


The Walking Rhett (and Link)

by AsphodelNox



Category: Rhett & Link, rhink - Fandom
Genre: Alternate Universe - The Walking Dead Fusion, Blood and Gore, Character Death, Depression, M/M, Panic Attacks, Zombie Apocalypse, rhink
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-30
Updated: 2016-03-01
Packaged: 2018-05-04 02:04:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 9
Words: 23,772
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5316125
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AsphodelNox/pseuds/AsphodelNox
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's the zombie-apocalypse and Rhett and Link have to stay together to survive.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

"Link, come on, this way", Rhett said as he dragged Link by his arm into the narrow alleyway. They ran as fast as they could, Rhett still holding Links arm. Link turned his head to look behind them and he gasped when he saw that the zombies were right behind them. 

"Just keep running, Link!" Rhett yelled, to keep his friend focused. The alleyway ended in a long street with shops and apartments. They stopped for a single second to scan the street, but then Link pointed towards a building a few meters from where they were.

"There!" This time it was Link who pulled Rhett in the right direction. "We have to climb over that fence, then we'll be safe!". 

When they arrived at the fence, Rhett let go of Link and glanced behind him to check the position of the zombies. Then he kneeled down to help Link up. "You go first, I'll help you, but please hurry!" 

Link climbed onto the fence with Rhett’s help and managed to get to the other side pretty easily. He now found himself in a fenced-in area between two buildings, seemingly zombie-free. 

"Okay, your turn." said Link as he caught his breath. He saw the zombies getting closer. "Come on, man, faster!" He yelled at Rhett, who was struggling to get over the fence, since he didn't get any help. 

"I'm trying!" He said, his teeth clenched together. 

The zombies were approaching very fast and Link started to panic. He could very clearly see their pale faces and dead, hollow eyes and the dried blood all over their bodies, especially around their mouths and hands. Just in time, when the zombies got to the fence, Rhett was at the top and jumped down. He leaned his hands on his thighs and also needed a moment to catch his breath. 

"That was close" he breathed. 

Link walked up to him and put his hand on Rhett’s shoulder. "Are you alright?" He asked with a concerned voice. 

"Yeah, I'm fine", Rhett said, then looked towards the fence where the zombies were growling and trying to get through, "We should probably be going, though." He said as he stood straight and began to look around to find out where to go.

Link looked at the zombies, at their fingers that went through de holes of the fence as they tried to reach them in their hunger for living flesh. Although Link was very afraid of them, he also pitied them for some reason. He hoped that he or Rhett never turned into one of those things. He couldn't think of the day that might happen.

He felt a hand on his shoulder and turned around. Rhett was staring down on him. "It actually looks pretty safe here, the fence on the other side does have a gate, but it's locked with a chain, so they can't come through there. And I think that that door over there leads to a convenience store." He pointed towards a door on the building on the right. "We could check it out and look for supplies. I also think we should take these stairs into these apartments and see if we can spend the night there." 

Link looked at the steel staircase that lead up to the upper apartments. "Sure, let's do that first" he said as he walked towards it. "I reckon it will be safer on the upper floor, it's harder for them to get up there, right?" 

Rhett thought about that for a moment, then said "True, but if they do manage to get up there, it's also harder for us to get down. But let's check it out anyway."

They walked the stairs carefully, making sure to make as little sound as possible. When they got to the upper floor, they looked through the windows to check if anyone or anything was in there. It was kinda hard to see anything, the windows were dirty and most of the rooms were dark. Rhett tried opening one of the doors. To his surprise it opened with a squeak. 

"I'm checking in here, Link." he said to Link, who was still peeking through the windows. Link nodded and continued investigating.

 

Rhett opened the door a bit further and looked inside the apartment. It was really dark; the blinds were closed. He walked towards them and opened them. For a moment he was blinded by the light from outside. Then he turned around and glanced around the room. It was a mess. The people who lived here, probably left in a hurry. The whole floor was covered in papers, books and lots of dust. 

Rhett walked towards the kitchen and looked into the drawers. He found a can of beans in one of them. He smiled. He liked beans a lot. He put the can into his bag. He also checked the fridge, only to see some molded cheese and sour milk in there. He shivered at the smell and shut the door immediately. 

Link walked in. "I think it's all clear. I didn't see or hear anything." He said. "What about this place?" He looked around the room. 

"It's a mess, but it's better than nothing. And I found some beans." Rhett said, showing him the can. 

Link smiled "Looks like it's your lucky day, you love beans, man!" 

They laughed. Rhett looked at his friends face for a moment. He was glad they had each other in this horrible time. They shared a lot of memories together, good ones, bad ones and horrible ones.

"Is there a bed?" Link asked, snapping Rhett out of his thoughts. 

"Oh, I didn't have the chance to check that out yet." He answered. 

"Okay, then I'll do that" Link said and walked to the door supposedly leading towards the bedroom. 

Rhett went to look around some more and then stopped at the couch in the middle of the room. The couch was one of de few pieces of furniture in the living room, along with a dinner table, two chairs and a big bookcase. He walked towards the bookcase and studied the books when he suddenly heard a sniffling noise. It was coming from the bedroom. "Link?"

 

He walked trough the door. The bedroom was very small and messy but there was a big bed in the middle, with on either side a small table and a window facing the door. Link was sitting on the bed with his back towards Rhett. 

"Link, are you alright?" Rhett asked his friend. 

He got a sigh in response. Rhett walked up to him and kneeled down in front of him. Link was holding a photo frame and stared at it, eyes sad and watery. "Look at them, Rhett. They are so happy." 

Rhett looked at the picture. It was a family of three, a man with his arm wrapped around a woman who was holding a baby. They were all smiling. Rhett looked up to Links face as he continued talking. 

"They were so happy. And now they are all probably dead. Just like..." Link took off his glasses and wiped his eyes with his hand. 

Rhett looked down for a moment, then put his hand on Links shoulder. "Hey..." He started, but Link interrupted him. 

"I can't get the images out of my head! Christy, the children. Why them? Why not me?" He threw away the photo frame and put his hands over his eyes and leaned his elbows on his lap. 

Rhett stood up to sit next to him at the bed and wrapped his arm around his shoulders. "I know." He said. "It haunts me too. But we can't give up." 

"Why?" Link looked up at him so sudden, that it startled Rhett and he let go of his shoulder. He saw hurt and frustration fluttering his best friends face. 

"What else is there to live for?" 

They were quiet for a moment. "At this moment, Link, you are my reason to keep going. You're my best friend, man, I don't want to lose you as well!" Rhett said to him. 

Link looked at his feet. "Still. What is the point? The world as we knew it is gone forever. Everything we worked so hard for in our lives is now gone. Our business, our families." Tears were streaming down his face and dripping off his chin into his lap. 

"I know you lost a lot, so did I, but we still have each other. That's worth something, right?" Said Rhett. 

Link looked at him. "Yeah, of course. I just... Wish I could've saved them..." He put his hands over his eyes again. 

Rhett put his arm around him again and said softly: "I know." He understood. He was with him that day.

 

_When they heard the news about the zombies, they were at the studio, working. As soon as they heard it, they took the car and drove as fast as they could to pick up their families, but when they got to Rhett's house, no one was there. So they went over to Link's house, in the hope everyone was there. They were. But it was already too late. Zombies were gathered all around Link's neighborhood and were inside his house. Rhett remembered Link running out of the car, into the house, with a baseball bat in his hands. Rhett tried to call him back, but then also went out the car and followed him._

_He found Link on his knees in the doorway of his bedroom, covered in blood and surrounded by zombies with their heads smashed open. He was screaming and crying. Rhett was shocked. Did Link do this all by himself? When Rhett came closer to ask him, his eyes found their way into the bedroom. That was when his whole world collapsed. Their wives, their children, they lay on the floor in a puddle of blood, their bodies covered in open wounds, their eyes staring and cold. He suddenly felt very lightheaded and nauseous, his face wet from tears. This couldn't be happening. Not to them. There was a moment where he thought he was going to faint, but when he heard a loud growl coming from behind him, he came to his senses a bit._

_They needed to get out of there, or they were going to die as well. He walked towards Link and tried pulling him along. Link was screaming and fighting but Rhett managed to get him out of the house and into the car. They drove off, Rhett still in shock and Link having a panic-attack, both men with tears streaming down their faces, not knowing where to go or what to do._

 

After his little breakdown, Link managed to fall asleep on the bed. Rhett lay next to him, on his back with his hands resting on his stomach, thinking about everything that has happened and how things would turn out. Exhausted, he eventually fell asleep.

 

When Rhett woke up, the first thing he noticed was that Link was gone. He jolted upright. "Link?" He asked. "Link!", louder this time. He stepped out of the bed and exited the bedroom. Link wasn't in the living room either. He also checked the other rooms but with no success. Rhett started to panic. Where did he go? Links bag was gone as well. 

Rhett grabbed his own backpack and went out of the apartment. He wanted to yell his name, but he was afraid that the zombies might hear him. So instead he looked through the windows of the other apartments. That's when he heard a scream. Rhett turned his head: "Link!"

It came from below. He ran towards the stairs and went down. He saw that the door of the store was open. He stopped by the door and carefully glanced inside. He couldn't see much past the shelves of the shop, but he heard shuffling and growling noises. There were definitely zombies in there. Rhett grabbed his machete and made his way into the building. 

He heard Link yell again. He followed the sound quietly and then paused behind the counter when he saw him. He was on top of one of the shelves, which was surrounded by at least 8 zombies. Rhett prepared himself and then ran up to the group, lifting his machete and started hitting them in the head. When 4 of them were down, the others came after him, all at once. They didn't pay any attention to Link anymore, so he saw his chance. 

He jumped down the shelves and yelled: "Back up, Rhett!" Then he knocked down the shelves, which landed on top of the zombies, right in front of Rhett's feet. 

Rhett was surprised for a moment, but then pierced the heads of each of the zombies.

"What in the world were you doing?" Rhett asked angrily. 

"I was looking for supplies, man." Link said, like it was no big deal. 

"You can't just go by yourself, are you crazy?" Rhett continued. 

"Hey, I can handle things myself!" 

"Well, it didn't really look like it, did it?" 

Link looked at his feet. 

Rhett rubbed his beard. "We gotta plan things like this, Link, think about what-" 

"Yeah yeah, I know." Link interrupted him. "I just thought it wouldn't be such big of a deal. I mean, you were still asleep, so I thought I could make myself useful for once.” He walked a bit further into the store. “It’s all empty by the way. Everything has been raided already." 

Rhett looked around. "Dang it. So all of this was for nothing as well." He said, looking down at the corpses underneath the shelves. 

"Now what do we do? We only have that one can of beans." Link asked as he walked up to Rhett. 

"Let's check out the rest of the apartments, maybe we'll find something helpful there". They walked outside. There were still some zombies by the fence where they escaped the day before.

 

When they got upstairs, they stopped at the first door. 

"Shall I take the next one?" Asked Link. 

"No, let's just stay together for now." Answered Rhett. 

Link rolled his eyes in annoyance. Rhett opened the door and they stepped inside. It was completely dark. An awful smell filled their noses. 

Link grimaced and clenched his nose "Ew, disgusting! What is that smell?". 

Rhett held his arm against his nose so he didn't have to smell it. "It's smells like something died in here." They walked further into the room, Rhett walked towards the other wall and found curtains which he opened. The whole room was now illuminated. Just like the apartment they've been sleeping in, it was very dusty and messy. Rhett went to check the kitchen cabinets and Link looked around the living room. 

Link opened a drawer and found a flashlight, still working. That would come in handy. He also looked through some clothes in the closet, they were actually a little too big, but it was good enough. It would probably feel good to wear some clean clothes. He stuffed it all in his bag. 

Rhett found a sharp knife but wasn't sure if he would take it. He then wrapped it in a cloth and put it in his bag anyway. He also found a half full bottle of water, but no food whatsoever. 

"Rhett..." He heard Link say and turned around. Link stood in front of the bedroom door with his hand on the handle. "The smell is definitely coming from the bedroom." Rhett walked up to him. The smell was indeed stronger in front of the door. They looked at each other for a moment before Link turned the handle, opened the door and looked inside. 

He immediately gagged and quickly walked away from the room, his hand covering his mouth. Rhett then also looked inside. His jaw dropped in shock and he felt nauseous as well. There lay two people on the bed, dead, and according to the smell, they were for quite some time. They were holding hands and one of them was holding a gun. They probably decided to kill themselves instead of dealing with the world as it is now, filled with zombies. 

Rhett and Link both went quickly out of the apartment and Rhett shut the door. Link leaned over the balustrade, breathing in the fresh air. 

"Well, I don't think we're ever going back there again." 

Link shook his head. They never got used to it, to the corpses that just seem to lay everywhere. Link got himself together. "Let's go to the next apartment" He said. 

"Are you sure?" Rhett asked. 

"Yes." Link said firmly and he walked to the next door. 

Rhett was worried about him, he thought about the day before, when Link got upset just by looking at a picture of complete strangers. He must have felt something when they saw those corpses on the bed as well. Maybe he just wanted to seem strong in front Rhett. Rhett let it go for the moment and followed Link into the next apartment.

 

This one was a lot nicer than the others, it was light and not as untidy and dusty. It almost seemed like time had stood still in there. When Rhett walked in, Link was already in the kitchen, looking for food. 

"There are three cans in here!" He said happily as he turned to face Rhett, who was looking around the room. "Weird, huh, it almost looks like someone's been here recently, but they didn't take anything." He said to Rhett, who nodded. 

"Yeah, weird." He said and walked towards the bedroom door. "Let's see if there are any unpleasant surprises behind this door." He opened the door. No corpses on the bed, that was already a good sign. It was a pretty room. The walls were a light shade of blue and there was a king sized bed with seemingly clean white sheets. "Maybe we should stay here, instead of the other apartment. This bed looks really comfy." He said loudly so Link could hear him. 

Link appeared in the doorframe. "Wow." He said with a smile on his face, "Yeah, it looks really nice." He then walked away. "I found something by the way in one of the closets, and I think you might like it." Rhett heard him say. 

He also went out of the room and saw Link opening a closet and grabbing something out of it. It was a guitar. A smile appeared on Rhett's face. "Man, it's been a long time since I've played the guitar, I'm not sure if can still do it." 

Link rolled his eyes and handed him the guitar. "Don't be stupid." He laughed and closed the front door. 

Rhett sat down in a big and comfy white chair and Link on the couch. Rhett started playing. He wasn't really playing a melody, but it sounded really nice. For a moment it seemed like there was not a problem in the world. Link looked at Rhett's fingers as they moved over the strings. But then Rhett stopped. 

"Do you remember the Facebook song?" He asked with a smile on his face. 

"Yeah of course I do." Link responded. 

"Okay then Link, are you ready?" Rhett started singing and so did Link. They laughed when they got the words mixed up and when Link tried to whistle the recorder-solo. It has been a while since they've laughed that much. It was great. 

After playing a few songs, Rhett put down the guitar and the two men were slumped onto the couch. It was already pretty dark outside. They decided to share one of the cans. It wasn't good at all, but it was something at least.

 

"I think I'm going to try out that bed now." Link said after a while. He stood up from the couch and walked into the bedroom. 

Rhett's eyes followed him. "Yeah, I'll be there as well in a sec." Before the whole zombie-thing, they would make a big deal about sleeping in the same bed, but now, it's just the safer thing to do. Rhett heard Link jump onto the bed and heard a satisfied sigh coming from him. 

"Ah, this is nice." Said Link. 

Rhett chuckled and got up from the couch as well and stood in the doorway of the bedroom. Link was lying on his side, his back towards him, on the right side of the bed. That's where Jessie used to lay, he realized. He shook his head. 

He took off his shoes and pants and then climbed onto the bed and laid down on his back. It was indeed a nice bed. He rested his hands on his stomach again and closed his eyes. 

"Goodnight, Link." he said. He then heard Link shift beside him, so he opened his eyes. Link was now facing him and looked him in the eyes. 

"Goodnight, Rhett." Rhett let out a small smile and then Link closed his eyes. 

Rhett kept looking at him for a while. He watched until Links breathing went slower and steadier. Then he decided he should go to sleep as well. So he did.


	2. Chapter 2

Rhett woke up the next morning of the sunlight shining into his eyes, coming from the only window in the room. He squinted his eyes and looked over to Link. He was still sleeping with his back towards the window. His mouth hung slightly open and he breathed softly. His hair was al messed up but the sunlight shining on it made the edges almost look golden. Rhett yawned and got out of the bed, careful not to wake his friend. He picked up his jeans from the floor and put them on. He turned around when he heard a rustling sound behind him. Link rolled over to his other side, but he continued his slumber. Rhett then walked out of the room and silently shut the door.

 

He opened Links backpack and pulled out a clean t-shirt, which Link put in there the day before, and he put it on. It was a simple red shirt with a V-neck. He stretched his back. He slept pretty well, the bed was very nice and his back felt way better than it did the day before. Maybe they could stay here for a few days before moving on. It was safe, cozy and they had food. Not that much though, but enough for a few days. 

In this apartment, it was almost like everything was back to how it used to be, as if there were no zombies to worry about, it just felt like the way it was before. 

Rhett walked towards the window in the kitchen. Looking out the window, he could see a few zombies hobbling around. Of course they were still there. He sighed and wanted to walk away from the window, when he saw something odd. He frowned. In an alley between two buildings across the street he saw someone, but he couldn’t exactly tell if it was a zombie or a human. It looked like it was peeking around the corner, not something a zombie would do. Suddenly the figure moved into the alleyway and disappeared out of sight. Rhett raised one eyebrow. Other people? He wasn’t sure if he trusted that. 

It was always hard meeting other people, because you can never be sure if you could trust them or not. That’s why he and Link always stayed together, because they’ve known each other for a long time and they know that they can trust each other, they already did before this whole zombie-thing went down. He hoped that whoever it was would just leave them alone.

 

Suddenly he heard the door to the bedroom open and he turned around. Link came out of the room, only dressed in his boxers, rubbing his eyes. 

“Good morning”, he said to Rhett in a sleepy voice. 

“Hey”, Rhett replied. 

“I could really go for a bowl of cereal right now.” Link said and he yawned. 

Rhett smirked. “We’re all out, I’m afraid.” 

Link pouted his mouth but it turned into a smile quickly. He ran his hand through his hair and sat down on the couch. “So, what’s the plan for today?” he asked. 

Rhett walked over to the couch and sat down next to him. “Well, I was thinking we could stay around here for a few days.” He said to him. 

Link seemed to think about it for a moment, then nodded. Rhett continued. “There are also 2 more apartments we have to check out, so let’s do that.” 

Link nodded again. “Sounds like a plan. But where are we going after this? Before we’re out of food?” 

“Not sure. Maybe we could look around for a map or anything so we can make a plan.” 

Link got up. “I’m gonna get dressed then. Let’s leave when I’m done.” He also grabbed a shirt from the bag and then walked into the bedroom to change his clothes. 

Rhett rubbed his hand over his beard, got up from the couch and grabbed his backpack and put it on his back. Link walked out in a black t-shirt with a colorful design and a dark blue pair of jeans. He picked up his backpack as well and opened the front door. 

“Shall we?” he said as he pointed towards the doorway. 

Rhett nodded and walked outside. Link shut the door behind them.

 

They spent the rest of the morning going through the apartments. There was nothing out of the ordinary, they were just as dusty and abandoned as the other ones, with filthy furniture and dirty floors. They didn’t find a map, but they did find some food and a bottle of alcohol. When Rhett found the bottle, he only agreed to take it with them for when they would have to treat an injury in the future. But Link wanted to bring it for a completely different reason, but he didn’t tell Rhett. As soon as they were done investigating, they returned to the nice apartment.

 

Rhett stayed outside for a moment and looked down at the street again. Suddenly he noticed a bus shelter across the street. There could be a map hanging in there. He went inside to tell Link. 

“Hey Link, there might be a map across the street by the bus stop!” 

They both walked outside again and Rhett pointed towards the bus stop. Links eyes scanned the street. 

“We should make a plan, we have to get to the other side of the fence again, and get past the zombies.” Rhett said. 

Link nodded in approval. He was counting the zombies and was looking for places to hide. Rhett did the same thing. “We only have to check were we are and look what’s the best way to go, right?” Asked Link. 

“Yeah, we don’t have to be out there for too long.” Rhett answered. 

Link bit his lip. “Here is my plan. I think that, first of all, we have to lure the zombies away that are still by the fence. We should look for some glass bottles we can throw to the other side, that will lead them away from the fence. Then we both climb over to the other side. Then I’ll take a look at the map while you cover me. Is that okay?” 

Rhett thought about it. It might work. “Sounds good.” He said. “Now we have to think of a plan B, for if it all goes south.” 

Once again the two men let their eyes scan the streets below. “There’s a ladder on the side of that building, leading to the roof.” Link noted. 

“That’s plan B?” Rhett asked while nervously scratching his neck, thinking about his fear of heights. 

Link looked at his face. “Unless you can think of something else?” 

Rhett looked at his feet. “Let’s just hope everything will go according to plan. Let’s find some bottles first.” He said and walked towards the steel staircase going down and Link followed him.

 

They found some bottles by the dumpster outside the store. Then they decided it would be a good thing to roll the dumpster against the fence, so that they could hide behind it and the throw the bottles without the zombies seeing them. There were 5 of them at the fence and a few more behind them, a bit further in the street. 

The two men sat with their backs against the dumpster. They looked each other in the eyes for a moment and then nodded. They each grabbed a bottle and turned around to face the fence. Rhett threw one first. It landed a few feet away from the fence. The zombies turned around and Link threw another one. The zombies slowly walked towards the sound and away from the fence. 

“It’s working!” Link whispered to Rhett. 

“Let’s throw one more.” Rhett whispered back and he picked up a bottle and threw it over the fence. It landed close to the others. The fence was now clear. 

“Let’s go.” Link said and he climbed on top of the dumpster and over the fence. When he landed on the other side, he waited for Rhett, who followed quickly after him. Rhett grabbed his machete in his right hand and another bottle in his left hand. They walked quickly towards the bus shelter. 

Link went to look on the map and Rhett kept an eye out. Link studied the map. They were at the main street of the town, if they would follow it eastwards, they would eventually end up on the highway, surrounded by woods. But if they would head west, they would end up at the countryside. Link stared at the map a little longer until he heard Rhett calling his name. 

“Link! I’m out of bottles, we should leave now!” 

Link turned around and saw the zombies gathered around the place where the bottles had landed. They started running towards the fence. When they got there, they managed to get over the fence, without any trouble. When they both were on the safe side again, they high-fived each other. 

“That went better than expected.” Rhett stated and smiled to his friend. But then some movement caught his eye from the other side of the street and his smile dropped. It was in the same alleyway where he saw someone earlier that day and once again it disappeared in the blink of an eye. 

“What’s wrong?” Link asked with a questioning look on his face. 

“I keep thinking I see someone in that alleyway over there.” 

Link followed Rhett’s gaze. “Not just another zombie?” 

Rhett scratched the top of his head. “Not sure. Forget about it, let’s just go upstairs.” The sun was already setting and it colored the sky and the clouds soft shades of pink and orange.

Back in the apartment, they ate something and Link drew on a piece of paper what he could remember of the map. They discussed where to go for a while but they didn’t come to a conclusion yet. They decided to continue their conversation the next day, after, hopefully, a good night of sleep.

 

“You know, looking back on today, I gotta say I’m kinda proud of us. We made a plan and it actually worked out for once. We’re getting better at this, we make a good team.” Link said to Rhett with a smirk on his face. They lay in bed. 

Rhett chuckled. “We’ve always made a good team, man. Just go to sleep.” 

Link smiled and turned his back to him. Rhett was glad that Link wasn’t down anymore, like he was a few days ago. It was like he found some hope again. That was good. Rhett sighed and closed his eyes.

 

It was still a little dark outside when Rhett woke up. He looked to his right and saw that Link was still sleeping. Silently, he stepped out of the bed. Then he tried to open the door as quiet as possible. Link turned to his other side. With his back towards the living room, Rhett shut the door. He then heard a click and felt something pressed against his head. He froze. 

"What the fuck are you doing at my base?" He heard a raspy voice say from behind him.

Rhett turned his head slightly and saw a man pointing a gun at his temple. Rhett turned around to face the stranger. He raised his hands in the air and blinked his eyes. The man looked like he’s been through a lot. He had a long beard and messy hair. He was wearing an old baseball cap and a dirty long-sleeved plaid flannel shirt. 

"Answer me!", the man yelled and he pushed the gun harder against Rhett’s head. 

"I uh... I didn't know someone was living here, we... I, uh-" 

"Shut up!", the man interrupted him. Rhett swallowed nervously. "You said 'we'. How many of you are there?" He asked. 

"No! No, it's just me, I swear." Said Rhett quickly, in the hope that he would leave Link alone. 

"Bullshit." Said the man and he gestured with his gun for Rhett to step away from the bedroom door. 

Rhett slowly stepped away, his hands still in the air. The man walked to the door and put his hand on the handle, his other hand still pointing the gun at Rhett. Rhett looked to his left and saw his bag with his machete sticking out. He could reach for it as soon as the man would go into the bedroom. But what about Link?

 

Link turned over to his other side when he heard Rhett getting out of the bed. He was still tired, maybe he could get some more sleep. He heard the door close softly. Suddenly he heard a click and an unfamiliar voice asking something. His eyes flew open and he listened closely. He heard Rhett answer the question with fear in his voice. Link stepped out of the bed quietly and looked around for something that he could use as a weapon. A lamp was his only option. He picked it up and stood behind the door and listened. 

He heard someone at the door. If it would open, the guy probably wouldn't see Link behind the door, as it opened inwards. Maybe he could catch him by surprise and hit him with the lamp. He saw the door opening slowly. Links heart pounded out of his chest. Suddenly, he changed his mind. He pushed hard against the door, slamming it shut and kept leaning against it. 

"What the-" he heard from the other side and then he heard the man gasp. It sounded like there was a fight going on on the other side of the door. Then all of the sudden there was a gunshot and the sound of a body hitting the floor. Links eyes widened in shock. 

"Rhett!", he cried out. He grabbed the lamp tightly and rushed out of the door, ready to attack. But what he saw, made his vision blurry and het felt himself hitting the floor. He fainted.


	3. Chapter 3

_Link opened his eyes. A bright light shining into his eyes made it impossible for him to see where he was. He was confused. What happened? Where was he? Suddenly the bright light disappeared and he found himself standing in an open field, high grass was softly waving in the wind and the sky was clear blue. He looked around, still confused. He couldn’t remember how he got there and everything seemed really fuzzy and weird._

_Suddenly, he heard growling noises coming from behind him and he turned around in shock. He saw a large crowd of zombies moving in his direction. They moved really slowly, but they were definitely coming his way. Link tried to run away, but then he realized that he couldn’t move his feet and he started to panic._

_Then he heard someone calling his name. “Link!” The voice sounded really familiar, but… It couldn’t be. Right? He tried to turn his head to see who it was. His jaw dropped in disbelief. It was Christy. With the children. Link couldn’t believe what he saw and he started to smile and cry at the same time. He wanted to go to them, hug them, kiss them, tell them he loved them, but he still wasn’t able to move from his place._

_They were running in his direction, yet they went further and further away from him and closer towards the herd of zombies. When Link realized what was about to happen, his smile dropped from his face. He wanted to scream, to warn them, but he couldn’t._

_“Daddy! Help us!” The children yelled. But it was too late. They got engulfed by the crowd and Link couldn’t see them anymore. All he could do was watch them go down, not being able to help them._

_He shut his eyes, tears dwelling up in them. Suddenly he heard another voice yelling his name. Link looked up and saw Rhett running towards him. He stopped in front of him and put his hand on his shoulder._

_“I got you, Link”, he said in a comforting voice and Link immediately felt better. Rhett’s hand felt warm on his shoulder and the kind look on his face made him feel safe, even though the huge crowd was still coming their way. Link smiled at him._

_Then all of the sudden it looked like Rhett was being pulled backwards by some invisible force. Link, again, could only watch in horror as Rhett also disappeared in the crowd of zombies. This can’t be real, Link thought. This must be a nightmare. He was all alone now, yet he still heard Rhett calling his name, over the sound of the growling zombies._

_“Link!” They were very close now, only a few feet away from him. They were gonna get him and devour him just like they did to Rhett and his family. “Link!” They were only a few steps away now and Link prepared himself._

_“Link! Wake up!”_

 

“Link! Wake up!” 

Link slowly opened his eyes. He was on the floor. His vision was still blurry but he could see someone hanging over him. His head was throbbing. 

“Are you okay?” 

Link’s vision cleared and he saw that it was Rhett who was sitting next to him and looking down on him. Link groaned as he tried to sit up. 

“Not really”, he said and rubbed the back of his head with his hand. He probably hit his head when he fainted. Rhett stoop up and held out his hand to help Link up. Link grabbed his hand and Rhett pulled him up, grabbing his shoulder when he swayed on his feet. 

“I think it’s for the best if we get out of here”, Rhett said. 

Suddenly Link remembered why he fainted in the first place. He saw the feet of a man sticking out from behind the white couch, which wasn’t as white anymore, since it had blood splatters all over it. He felt lightheaded again. Rhett guided him out the door. 

 

Outside, Link leaned over the balustrade and breathed in the fresh air and he could feel the dizziness and nausea slowly fade away, but it made place for something else. The realization that Rhett just killed a man, a living man, hit him real hard. Of course they’ve killed zombies before, but they were already dead. This just felt wrong. Rhett stood next to him and rubbed his hands nervously, while looking at his feet. Link took a deep breath. 

“Do you feel better?” Rhett asked. 

“No, Rhett.” Link said in a reproachful tone. 

“What?” Rhett asked. 

“You just killed a man, Rhett, of course I’m not okay!” 

“What else could I have done, man? It was him or me!” Rhett said in defense. “Do I have to remind you that we kill all the time?” he added. 

Link shook his head and looked him in the eyes. “That’s different, those zombies are already dead.” 

“He was pointing a gun at my face, Link, and he was coming for you! I saved us!” Rhett shook his head in frustration. “When will you understand that everything’s changed? It’s kill or being killed now, and I don’t care if it’s a living person who attacks us or a dead one, if it attacks us, I’m prepared to take them down. You should be too, if you want to stay alive.” 

 

Link didn’t answer. To be honest, he wasn’t so sure if he wanted to stay alive anymore. Maybe Rhett was made to survive in this world, but Link was definitely not. He just didn’t have the guts to face what they were facing every day now, the killing, the blood, the dead bodies. 

That’s why he was glad that they found the apartment where it seemed like none of that existed anymore. And now that is spoiled as well, for there now lay a strange man with a gaping hole in the side of his head in a puddle of his own blood on the wooden floor. Just like how his wife and children once lay in his own home. 

Of course he understood why Rhett killed the guy and what could’ve happened if he didn’t, but he just couldn’t get used to the idea of simply killing people who stand in their way. That’s not how you solve problems. Well, at least that was not how they did it in the past. Rhett was right, everything is different now and Link hated it. 

 

Link shook his head and walked away from Rhett, into the dirty apartment where they slept the first night and shut the door behind him. Rhett stayed behind, still standing with his hand on the balustrade and sighed. Link was so stubborn. Why didn’t he just accept what they had to do to keep safe? 

He went inside the other apartment and looked down at the dead man. His eyes were still open but all life had left them. Rhett searched through his pockets to see if he had anything of value on him. He found a lighter and put it in his own pocket.

He then looked through the bag of the man. There was some food and water in there. He also found a picture. It showed 4 people on it. The man, who was now dead, waving at the camera with a smile on his face with his arm around a woman and two young kids playing with each other in the foreground. Rhett swallowed and blinked his eyes. Then he put the picture back in the bag. He felt guilt washing over him but he waved it away. 

Suddenly he saw something else in the bag. A walkie-talkie. Rhett stared at it for a moment, unsure what to do with it. Was the man with other people? His family maybe? Did they communicate through this thing? Maybe if they wouldn’t hear from him, they would come for him. That probably wasn’t a good thing. He decided to take it with him. He stood up and grabbed Links bag and his own and walked out of the apartment, with one last look at the man on the floor and closed the door. 

Link lay on the couch in the other apartment when Rhett came in. He dropped the bags on the floor and sat down at the table, and laid down the walkie-talkie on top of it. He stared at it in silence. Link also remained silent, not wanting to talk to the other man for now. He shut his eyes and fell asleep short after. 

 

When Link woke up, it was already dark outside. He sat up straight, ran his hand through his hair and rubbed his eyes. He slept longer than he intended to. He felt even worse than before he went to sleep. He blinked his eyes and tried to look around in the dark room. 

Rhett was gone, probably off to bed. A half eaten can stood on the table. It was then that Link realized how hungry he really was. He thanked Rhett silently for not eating all of it. He grabbed a fork and ate what was left in the can. He still felt hungry after finishing it. He looked at the bags on the floor. He really wanted more. 

He opened Rhett’s bag and grabbed inside of it. His hand closed around something and he pulled it out. It was the bottle of alcohol. He wanted to put it back but then changed his mind. Maybe this will help him feel better. Link sat down on the couch and opened the bottle. The smell burned the inside of his nose, but he didn’t care. He took a big sip, grimaced and then swallowed it quickly. It didn’t taste good at all. Just like everything lately. He felt it burning in his throat as it went down. Yet he took another sip. 

After a while he felt numb. No emotions, no sad thoughts, no worries. He just blankly stared across the dark room. It actually felt good for a moment. But when he wanted to take another sip, he realized he drank it all. He stared at the empty bottle. Suddenly he felt anger bubble inside him. It was so unfair, he never asked for this life. Yet here he was, drinking away his pain. He used to have it all, but that was all meaningless now. He smashed the bottle on the floor and it broke into multiple pieces. He dropped his head in his hands and rocked back and forth on the couch. 

The door to the bedroom opened and Rhett walked in the room. 

“What’s going on? Link?” he asked. 

“Leave me alone!” Link yelled back at him. 

Rhett was confused. “I heard something breaking, what happened?” He moved closer to the man on the couch. It was still very dark in the room. 

“No! Go away!” Link yelled. 

Rhett stopped in front of him. He smelled a strong scent of alcohol coming from him. “Have you been drinking?” he asked in disbelief. 

Link stood up from the couch and pushed Rhett away from him. “I said go away!” 

Rhett felt himself getting angry as well. “Did you drink the whole bottle? We might’ve needed that in the future!” He rubbed his hand over his face. “Why are you being this way, Link? You’re not helping at all!” he said in frustration. 

Suddenly he heard a sound coming from the bedroom. He turned his head and walked towards the room. It was a voice. He walked over to the table next to the bed and grabbed the walkie-talkie. 

“Dave, come in- over.” A female voice said. 

Rhett stared at it. So the man was with other people. 

“Dave are you there- over?” Another voice said, a man this time. “Why aren’t you answering, man?” The same voice said. 

Rhett didn’t know what to do and Link wasn’t any help either, at least not now. 

Again the walkie-talkie let out another voice. “We’re coming for you, man! Just stay where you are, we’re on our way!” 

Rhett’s eyes widened. It sounded like there were a bunch of them. They had to get out of here, if those people found out Rhett was the one who killed ‘Dave’, they would probably not be very nice to them. He got dressed immediately and went to the living room. 

“Link, listen to me. We have to get out of here.” 

Link lay face down on the couch and he groaned. Rhett’s hand clenched into a fist. How could Link be so stupid to get drunk, why right now? This was not gonna be easy. He walked towards the couch and grabbed Link by his arm and pulled him up. 

“We have to go.” He said in a persistent voice. 

Link tried to get out of Rhett’s strong grip on his arm. “Let me go!” 

“Put your shoes on, there are people coming our way.” Rhett said as he let go of him. 

Link took a few steps, but stopped when he swayed on his legs. He took a step backwards but then screamed in pain. He had stepped in a piece of glass of the bottle that he smashed on the floor earlier. He sat back down on the couch and cursed aloud. 

“What now?” Rhett started to get irritated. 

“My foot!”, Link answered. 

Rhett walked to the bags and looked for the flashlight. He flicked it on and shone it on Link. Blinded by it, Link held his hand for his eyes. Rhett came closer and looked at his foot. There was a deep cut in it. He sighed. Again, why now? He grabbed an old shirt out of one of the bags and ripped it in pieces. He then came back to Link and wrapped a piece around the wound. It had to do for now. He grabbed Link shoes and put them on him. That was probably the fastest way. He tied his shoelaces and stood up. 

“Come on, Link, we really need to leave now!” He said and he reached out his hand to help him, but Link slapped his hand away. “Fine then.” Rhett said impatiently and put the flashlight back in on of the bags and picked them up. Link slowly walked up to him, limping because of his wounded foot. 

“You need to be walking a lot faster than that, man.” Rhett said to him. 

“I can’t.” Link slurred. 

Rhett groaned and handed Link his backpack and opened the front door. They walked outside. The moon was full and shone a faint bluish light over the street below. Rhett started walking towards the stairs, and Link followed slowly. This wasn’t gonna work. He walked up to him and put his arm around him so he could lean on him. They went down the stairs. 

When they got downstairs Rhett stopped for a moment to think of what to do. But then he saw a bunch of flashlights across the street. A group of people was approaching through the alleyway where he saw the man earlier that day. Rhett cursed. What now? 

“The store.” Link whispered and he started hobbling towards the door, followed by Rhett. 

They went inside and hid behind the counter. Rhett listened closely, and he heard some movement coming from outside. The group probably climbed over the fence and went upstairs. He looked to his side, where Link sat with his hand covering his mouth. Suddenly he gagged and vomited over the floor. Rhett rolled his eyes. 

“Never again.” Link muttered. 

“You better.” Rhett responded harshly. Then he heard someone at the door. He shushed Link. The door opened slowly. They waited tensely as they heard someone coming in. 

“Hello? Who has the other walkie-talkie?” It sounded from Rhett’s bag. 

They heard the click from a gun and a voice yelling: “Show yourself!” Rhett and Link looked at each other. They were screwed.


	4. Chapter 4

The two men looked at each other. How were they going to get out of this? They had the gun of the dead guy of course, but what if the other people heard them and came after them? Also, the man was standing in the only open doorway. Maybe, they just had to act fast, just stand up, shoot the guy and climb over the fence as fast as they could. Rhett silently reached into his bag en pulled out the gun. Link looked at it tensely. Rhett was about to stand up to take the shot when they heard a pair of feet approaching from outside and a female voice saying “Victor! Did you find something?” 

Rhett froze. Now there were two of them? He looked at Link and he could see his jaw tense up. 

“I heard the walkie-talkie coming from here. Try it again!”, the man said. 

“Hello?”, they heard again from Rhett’s bag. He pulled the walkie-talkie out and held it in his hand, cursing the damn thing. 

“It came from behind the counter!” 

Rhett and Link’s eyes widened. 

“Come out!” The man demanded and they heard another click of a gun. 

Rhett made a quick decision. He was going to talk to them, maybe they could work it all out. But it would probably be better if Link stayed behind with the gun, for when things wouldn’t turn out so good. So he handed the gun over to Link with a determined look on his face. “Shoot them if anything goes wrong”, he whispered to him and put his finger against his lips. 

Link looked at the gun in his hand, then back to Rhett and shook his head but Rhett gave him an encouraging nod and rose to his feet. Link looked at him in disbelief as Rhett walked away with his hands in the air, the walkie-talkie in his left hand and said “Don’t shoot!”. He stopped a few feet away from them, awaiting their next move. The man and the woman both aimed their guns at him and Rhett studied them for a moment.

The woman was in her fifties and her grey hair was dirty and greasy. The fabric of her clothes was torn and covered in dirt and several bloodstains. Her eyes were weary, yet filled with determination, like she would definitely shoot him if she had to. The man had a scruffy beard and his long dark hair went in several directions. His eyes were hidden behind a pair of glasses, who were slightly bend. Rhett thought he was in his late twenties. His clothes were filthy as well and here and there stained with blood. He also had a determined look on his face, but Rhett also saw anger. 

“How did you get that walkie-talkie?” The woman asked. 

Rhett had to be careful. Maybe he could make them believe he got there after the guy was killed. “I found it upstairs, in the bag of a dead guy,” he said. 

The man and the woman looked at each other for a moment. “Did you kill him?” The man asked sharply. 

Rhett shook his head. “No, no, he was already dead when I got there!” He hoped they would believe him. 

They shot each other another glance. The man looked skeptical but the woman shrugged. “Did you also take our food?”, the man asked as he fixed his gaze back to Rhett. 

“Well I didn’t know it was yours,” he answered, “Besides the dead guy, no one was there and I thought he wouldn’t be needing any of it anymore.” 

The man still looked skeptical, then walked up to Rhett and grabbed the walkie-talkie from his hand. “Give me your bag.” He demanded and held out his hand. 

Rhett let the bag slide from his back and pulled a can out. 

“The whole bag”, the man insisted. 

Rhett quickly looked over at the woman by the door, her gun still aimed at him, then looked back to the man in front of him. “Come on, man, all my stuff is in there!” 

The man pointed his gun at Rhett’s forehead and Rhett immediately let go of his bag and raised his hands in the air again. That was the second time a gun was that close to his face in two days. The man picked up the bag and slowly walked backwards. 

“Now what?” Rhett asked, pissed now, “Are you gonna send me away without any of my stuff with all those zombies out there? Might as well kill me right here, right now.” 

The man looked at the woman. “It sure will be easier that way, won’t it?” He dropped the bag. “I think you’re full of shit.” He spat at him and Rhett furrowed his brow. “You probably just killed Dave like it was nothing and then stole all of his stuff, our stuff! So yeah, maybe it’s easier to just shoot you right here and now, just like you deserve!” 

Rhett gasped when the guy was about to pull the trigger.

 

When Rhett walked away from the counter, Link was shocked. He tried with all his might to focus on the conversation between him and the strangers, but the alcohol made his head feel heavy and fuzzy. Their voices sounded as if they were talking under water. 

He looked at the gun in his hands. He heard Rhett’s voice echoing inside his his head: _“When will you understand that everything’s changed? It’s kill or being killed now, and I don’t care if it’s a living person who attacks us or a dead one, if it attacks us, I’m prepared to take them down. You should be too, if you want to stay alive.”_ He was right. It was stupid to get drunk. He shook his head in the hope he would be able to focus again, but that only caused a throbbing headache. 

“…Might as well kill me right here, right now.” He heard Rhett say all of the sudden, loud and clear. Why was he saying that? With bated breath, Link listened to the voices. “…Just like you deserve!” He heard the man say. This was bad. A familiar feeling crept over him. The same feeling he had when he saw his family dead in his house and when he started to smash every zombie he saw in the head with his baseball bat. A mingling of anger, revolt and anxiety made him lose his mind. 

He stood up quickly and saw the two strangers with their guns aimed at Rhett, who was standing with his arms up, in a protecting way. Suddenly it felt as if everything went in slow-motion. Link aimed his gun at the man first. His eyes slowly made his way to him and Link saw his eyes widen in surprise as he pulled the trigger and the bullet hit the man in the chest. He fell to the floor with a thud and the woman looked at him with shock. Link then aimed the gun at her. She aimed back at him, her eyes filled with tears and a terrified expression on her face, but it was too late. Link pulled the trigger again and saw how she fell to the floor as well after being hit in the head. He lowered his gun and looked at the bodies by the door. He felt nothing as he saw their blood mix together in a puddle underneath them. 

He felt a hand on his arm, pulling him away. He tried to walk as fast as he could with his injured foot, Rhett supporting him. They stopped at the bodies to get Rhett’s bag back and they walked outside. Rhett guided him to the dumpster at the fence. He climbed on top of it and pulled Link up. He then climbed to the other side and jumped down. 

“Come on, Link, I’ll catch you!” he said. 

Link put down his foot and flinched when he felt a stinging pain. But he continued to climb and got to the top. Rhett held out his arms and Link slowly lowered himself. Rhett’s arms wrapped around his waist and he put him down gently. They looked behind them and saw about three people with flashlights moving upstairs. Luckily they haven’t spotted them. Rhett grabbed his machete from his bag, then put his arm around Link’s waist to help him walk, Link’s hand on his shoulder. There weren’t any zombies nearby, so they began walking westwards, as fast as Link’s foot allowed. 

 

After walking for about twenty minutes and a few encounters with zombies, they reached the countryside. Completely exhausted, they checked out the first barn they came across. It was an abandoned hay barn and the two men decided to stay there for the rest of the night. There was a ladder that lead up to an attic. Rhett insisted on going up there, because it would be safer. Link struggled to get up the ladder with his wounded foot, and he cursed loudly with every step he took, Rhett silently laughing at him. Both upstairs, they looked for a soft spot in the hay and they lay down next to each other. 

 

Rhett, as always, lay on his back with hands on his stomach. Link lay beside him, on his back as well and they stared at the ceiling. Finally, some rest after everything that had happened. 

“Thanks, Link.” Rhett said softly, “It must have been hard for you.” 

Link frowned. “I don’t want to think about it right now.” They kept silent for a moment. “My head feels funny,” Link said. 

“That’s what you get if you drink too much.” 

Link shifted to find a more comfortable position to sleep in. “The hay is itchy. And I’m cold.” He nagged. 

Rhett rolled his eyes. “Stop complaining, brother, you should be happy that you’re still alive! Now go to sleep.” Rhett shut his eyes. He was really tired. He could feel it throughout his whole body, it was almost screaming for sleep. He slowly dozed off, until he heard Link shift beside him once more. He opened his eyes and sighed. “Could you stop?” he said amused, yet mildly annoyed. 

“Well, I can’t get comfortable.” Link said softly. 

Rhett rubbed his hand over his face and tried to go to sleep again. Then all of the sudden, he felt Link resting head on his shoulder and his arm around his chest. His eyes flew open. “What are you doing?” He asked as he looked at the other man. 

“This is better.” Link said, followed by a contented sigh and his hand clutching Rhett’s shirt. 

Rhett blinked his eyes, unsure of what to do. He felt really awkward, but at the same time it was kinda nice and warm. So he wrapped his arm around Link’s back and shoulder and he saw him smile. Link moved his leg on top of Rhett’s and then nodded. 

“Much better.” 

It made Rhett chuckle and he rested his head against Link’s, his hair tickling his nose. This wasn’t weird. It was just to keep his friend comfortable and warm, nothing more. Right? Rhett had to admit it felt good and for some reason very natural. He heard Link’s breathing become slower and steadier and it made him feel at peace. He closed his eyes and fell asleep quickly after. 

 

Link was the first one to wake up. He slowly opened his eyes and blinked a few times. His head was pounding and the sharp light coming from outside made it worse. He groaned softly and rubbed his eyes. Suddenly he realized that he was still cuddled up with Rhett. He looked down and saw his chest slowly rising and falling. He was still asleep. Link turned his head slowly and studied Rhett’s face. 

There were bags under his eyes and the lines on his forehead and around his eyes were deeper than ever. His beard, which had always been carefully trimmed and well taken care off, has been out of control for a while now, making it very long and bushy. But Link didn’t think it was a bad thing, not at all. 

He averted his eyes. He should probably get up before Rhett, to avoid any awkward situations. He sat up and Rhett’s arm slipped from Link’s back. Silently he went down the ladder, his foot stinging with every step. 

When he got down, he looked around. Except for the hay, the barn seemed empty. He sat down in the hay and took off his shoe. He flinched, it hurt really badly. The piece of cloth wrapped around it, which was white as first, was now a dark shade of red. He unwound it from his foot and was shocked when he saw the wound. It was a deep cut and the flesh around it was red and swollen. It might get infected if he wouldn’t clean it soon. He cursed himself for his stupidity. Why did he smash that damn bottle? Why did he drink it in the first place? There was some kind of irony in that, cutting his foot right after drinking the thing that could help him now. 

He heard noises coming from upstairs and assumed Rhett was awake. He quickly wrapped the filthy cloth around his foot again and put his shoe back on. He didn’t want Rhett to worry about him. After a while he saw Rhett coming down the ladder with their bags in his hand. He walked up to Link with a smile and put the bags down. 

“Good morning” He said. 

“Hey” Link replied, with a lopsided smile. 

“Did you sleep well?” Rhett asked, biting his lip and Link felt his cheeks turning red. 

“Yeah, thanks for keeping me warm, I guess.” He said awkwardly. 

“No problem, brother.” Rhett replied with a sincere smile and he looked at his feet. “So, what were you doing?” 

“I was just looking around. There’s nothing really here actually.” 

Rhett looked around. “What about over there?” He pointed towards something on the floor.

“What?” Link tried to see what he was pointing at, but couldn’t see anything. 

Rhett walked to the spot he pointed at. “There’s a hatch over here.” It was covered in hay, but if you looked a bit better, you could indeed see the outlines of a hatch in the floor. 

“I must have missed that.” Link said as he walked closer. 

Rhett went on his knees and wiped the hay away with his hand and it revealed the handle. “Are we going to check it out?” Rhett asked. 

Link looked at him and nodded, “Yeah, let’s do it.” 

Rhett grabbed their bags and gave Link the flashlight. He put his hand on the handle of the hatch and pulled hard. It flew open and the men looked down the hole. They saw a ladder going down in absolute darkness. Link put the flashlight on and beamed his light down. They gasped as they saw what was hidden in the dark. Maybe it was their lucky day.


	5. Chapter 5

Rhett took the flashlight from Link. “I’ll go check if it’s safe first,” he said as placed his foot on the first step of the ladder and went down carefully. 

Link was on his knees, looking down the hole in the floor and saw how his friend disappeared into the darkness. 

Rhett stopped for a second to shine the light down and saw that he was almost at the bottom. The sound of his feet hitting the floor echoed through the dark room. It smelled really moldy in there, it could really need some fresh air. He let his flashlight wander around the room. The room wasn’t that big, but it was filled with all kinds of stuff. Two walls were hidden behind huge shelving units, packed with all sorts of boxes, bags and bottles. In one corner were two bunks beds shoved against the walls, at right angles to each other and in the middle of the room was a table with four chairs around it. Rhett wondered what kind of place this was, what it was used for. Anyway, it looked like it has been forgotten and untouched for a long time.

“Do you see anything?” He heard coming from above and he looked up. He saw Link’s silhouette in the opening. 

“It’s clear! You can come down! There’s a lot of stuff down here,” Rhett replied. He walked towards the ladder and helped Link by shining his flashlight on the steps. 

Link climbed down slowly and tried not to focus on his painful foot too much. After his last step, he turned and looked around the room, which was weakly illuminated by the flashlight. “What is all this?” He asked as his eyes went down the shelves. 

“Not sure,” Rhett replied, “Looks like some kind of hideout or shelter or something.” 

They walked towards one side of the room. “Food,” Link read on one of the boxes and he pulled it off the shelf and opened it. Rhett held the flashlight over the box and together they looked inside. There were all kinds of packages in there. Link grabbed one out and started reading what it was. “I think these are MRE’s.” He said. 

“What?” 

“MRE’s, remember? Meals ready to eat, used in the army. We ate some on Good Mythical Morning one time.” 

“Oh, yeah,” Rhett said as he remembered preparing the unusual meal while joking about it with Link. He also grabbed a package, ‘meatloaf with gravy’ it said on the side. He nodded in approval. “Wow, there’s a bunch of them in there. We were really lucky that we found this place.” 

 

They spent the rest of the day going through the boxes. Link hoped that maybe they would find a first-aid kit, but that wasn’t the case. There was, however, a box filled with candles, candleholders and matches and Rhett lit some of them and put them on the table. When they were done rummaging through all of the stuff, they sat down at the table where Link tried to figure out one of the MRE’s. After much fumbling, he managed to prepare the meatloaf with gravy and they shared it, the first warm meal they had in a while and it wasn’t even that bad. 

 

That night, they shut the hatch and locked it from the inside. They also let some candles burn, so the room wouldn’t be completely dark. Link grabbed two blankets they had found in one of the boxes and handed one to Rhett. They both lay down on the bottom bed of their separate bunk beds. 

“Sleep well.” Rhett murmured. 

Link didn’t reply, he lay on his side, with his head facing the wall. Rhett shrugged. He must be really tired then, he thought and he turned to face the wall as well and shut his eyes, trying to get some sleep. 

 

Link on the other hand, was suddenly wide awake. Now that he was in bed, without anything that could distract him, his thoughts went to the events of the night before. During the day, it was almost like he’d forgotten what happened, because of all the stuff they had to get through, but now, in his bed, everything came back to him. 

When he closed his eyes, he saw the face of the woman; her eyes, which were widened in shock and disbelief, her tears as they rolled down her cheeks and the bloody hole in the middle of her forehead. The thought of it sent shivers down his spine. Then the images of the man and the woman laying together on the ground came back into his mind, lifeless, wet from their own and each other’s blood. Dead, because of him. He was a murderer now. That’s what this world had turned him into. How did it ever come to this? 

Link felt miserable and sobbed quietly. How was he ever going to get over this? Yet according to Rhett, he should be prepared to do it more often, if they would ever end up in a similar situation. How could Rhett expect something like that from him? He curled up into a ball, still sobbing. 

“Link? Are you crying?” He heard Rhett’s concerned voice asking from behind him and he quickly wiped away his tears with a sniff. 

“I killed them, Rhett,” He said with a trembling voice, still staring at the wall, feeling his whole body tense up. He heard Rhett sigh and stand up from his bed and felt the mattress of his own bed shift as Rhett sat down on the edge, putting his his hand on his shoulder. 

“But you saved us, it was the only way.” 

Link shook his head. “I’m a monster, even more of a monster than those things out there!” Hot tears were streaming down his face. He felt his heartbeat speeding up and his arms and legs going numb, except for his foot, which was stinging more than ever. 

“You’re not a monster, Link, we’re just trying to survive.” 

Link turned around and tried to sit up straight, suddenly having trouble breathing. Panic and fear coursed through his body and made his head feel like it was about to explode. “I can’t…” He started, but he couldn’t finish his sentence, he was hyperventilating. It felt like he was suffocating and he started to shake uncontrollably, like all of the stress and fear that was inside of him suddenly came out and made him lose control over his body. 

“Whoa, you need to calm down, brother!” He heard Rhett say, it sounded way too loud, it made his ears ring. He felt Rhett pulling him out of the bed and holding him tightly. They sat on the floor, Rhett behind Link, holding him close against his chest. 

Link was still hyperventilating and Rhett tried to calm him down. He gently stroked his hair and shushed him. “Slow down your breathing, Link, count with me now. Breathe in…” He slowly counted to 5 “And out…” and he counted to 5 again. He continued counting like that with Link trying to do as he said and after a while his breathing went back to normal, but he was still shaking. 

“Very good,” Rhett said to him. 

Now that the panic-attack was over, the tears streamed down Link’s face. It felt like all his energy was drained from him and all he could do was lean against Rhett, who was still holding him. “I’m such a mess,” he muttered. 

Rhett shushed him and continued stroking his hair. “No you’re not, it’s gonna be fine. You’re gonna get through this, you’re strong.” 

“No I’m not, maybe you are, but I’m definitely not.” 

“Yes you are, Link, you have to keep going.” Link shook his head. Rhett felt Link’s tears dripping on his arm. They sat like that for some time in silence, Rhett just holding him and stroking his hair and Link felt himself slowly calming down again. 

After a while, his tears stopped and he felt completely exhausted. All he wanted to do was sleep. “I’m so tired,” he said softly with a trembling voice. 

“Let’s get some sleep then.” Rhett helped Link up and Link stepped into the bed. 

“Would you…” He stopped for a moment. “Would you please lie with me?” He asked as he looked Rhett into his eyes. Rhett’s face was weakly illuminated by the candles and he looked tired and concerned. 

“Of course,” Rhett replied without hesitation and he lay down next to him under the blanket. Link faced the wall again and Rhett lay behind him, his arm around Link’s waist and his nose in his neck. 

“This is the second time we lie like this. Is this becoming a habit?” Rhett joked and his breath tickled Link’s neck. It made him squirm a little. 

“Shut up,” he said with a lopsided smile and he closed his eyes. He already felt a bit better. “Thanks,” he said softly, “It seems like you can always find a way to calm me down.” 

“That’s what best friends are for, I guess. I’ll always look out for you, I got you.” 

Link felt like he heard that before. He realized Rhett had said that in his dream when he fainted the other day. Funny, he thought, how he looked after him, even in his dreams. “I promise I’ll always be there for you as well, Rhett, even though I mess everything up most of the time.” He heard Rhett chuckle. 

“As your friend I should probably say that that’s not true, but then I’ll be lying.” 

Link laughed and poked Rhett in his side. 

“Ow!” He cried out, but laughed after that. 

“Let’s just go to sleep now, okay?” Link said as he closed his eyes and shifted closer to Rhett to get more comfortable. 

“Okay. At least you’re laughing again, brother. Sleep tight.” He felt Rhett’s grip around him tighten for a moment and he sighed. He really wouldn't know what to do without him. 

“Sleep tight.”


	6. Chapter 6

The next morning, Rhett opened his eyes and blinked a few times. For a moment, he couldn’t remember where he was, the room was too dark. But when he felt Link beside him, slowly breathing, he remembered. His arm was still around him and he thought about moving it away. But then he changed his mind. Link felt so nice and warm, he didn’t want to let go just yet. He let out a contented sigh. He really loved the guy.

 

Rhett and Link have always been really good friends, but ever since they lost their families and they only had each other to look out for, they became closer and closer. Over time Rhett began to notice that his feelings for Link were changing. He not only felt like he should protect him more, but there was also something else. Maybe it was just because they spent literally all of their time together, but he began thinking about them being more than just friends. There were so many times where he just felt the urge to hold him, or even… kiss him? 

But he never told Link any of that. He was kind of embarrassed for feeling that way after all those years of them being just friends. Like, why wasn’t that just enough? Why did he want more? He didn’t know exactly. 

 

Suddenly he felt Link stirring next to him, and he snapped out of his thoughts. The other man groaned and yawned. “Good morning,” Rhett said to him softly. 

Link turned his head to him and smiled. “Mornin’,” he said with a hoarse voice as he rubbed his eyes and rested his hand on his own forehead. He groaned again. “Man, I don’t feel too good.” 

Rhett removed his arm from his waist and sat up. “What’s wrong?” He asked. 

“I’m really hot.” 

Rhett put his hand on Link’s forehead. It felt like he was burning. How could he not have noticed that earlier? “Wow, you really are hot!” he said, blushing when he realized how that sounded, but luckily it was too dark for Link to see. 

“I think I have a fever or something.” 

Rhett got out of bed and said to him: “You should stay in bed, I’ll take care of ya.” He took a few steps towards the table, where one candle was still burning and gave the whole room a faint orange glow. Then he stopped and turned around. “Wait, you don’t have any zombie-bites or something that I don’t know about, right?” He asked cautiously. 

“What? No, I was with you the whole time!” 

“Okay, okay, just checking. I’ll get you some water.” Rhett grabbed the candle from the table and walked to the shelves against the wall, but Link sat up straight. 

“No, no, you don’t have to, I can do it myself.” He stepped out of the bed, but when his wounded foot hit the floor, he screamed in pain. 

It startled Rhett and he quickly walked up to him. “What happened?” 

“My foot hurts like hell!” 

“I can’t see anything, hold on, I’ll get the flashlight.” Rhett, with the candle still in his hand, looked for his bag and pulled the flashlight out. He returned to Link with quick steps and kneeled down. “Here, I’m gonna take a look,” Rhett said as he handed Link the flashlight. 

Link turned the light on and shone the light on his foot. Rhett furrowed his brow when he saw that the piece of cloth around his foot was a dark shade of red and slightly damp. He carefully unwrapped the filthy cloth and Link clenched his teeth. When it came of, Rhett looked at the wound in disgust. 

The skin around it was red and swollen and de cut itself was still open and bright red. This was definitely not looking good. They looked at each other. Rhett could clearly see the pain on Link’s face. “I have to clean it, okay? It’s probably gonna hurt, but it is necessary.” 

Link nodded. “Do you think this is why I have a fever?” 

“Probably,” Rhett answered as he grabbed a bottle of water from the shelf. He also ripped a few more pieces from the shirt he had used as bandage earlier and sat down at the edge of the bed. He poured some water on one piece of the shirt. “Here I go, keep the flashlight steady, okay?” 

“Okay, please be careful, Rhett.” 

“Of course!” Rhett mentally prepared himself and slowly dipped the wet cloth on the wound. Link groaned and closed his eyes in pain. “I’m sorry, man,” Rhett said, and he slowly and carefully continued cleaning. Suddenly he saw something in the wound. A small piece of glass was still in there pretty deep. He had to get it out of there, somehow. “Link, there is still some glass in your foot. It has to come out, I’ll have to look for something to get it out.” 

Links eyes opened in shock. “Like what?” he asked. 

“I might have to use my knife, I don’t think we have another option.” Rhett really didn’t like the idea of putting his knife into his foot, but it might get worse if they didn’t get the glass out of there. 

“Oh gosh,” Link groaned. 

 

When Rhett returned with the knife from his bag, he looked at Link with an apologetic look. “I’m sorry man, I think this is gonna hurt a lot.” Link was scared, his hands were shaking and with that, the flashlight as well. “You have to keep the light still, so I can see what I’m doing, can you do that for me?” Rhett asked in a calm voice, even though he wasn’t calm at all. 

“I- I don’t know. Please, just do it fast.” Link said in a shaky voice and squeezed his eyes shut. He tried to prepare himself for what was about to come. 

“Here I go,” Rhett said hesitatingly. 

Link felt the knife entering his foot and the stinging pain made him squeal. He felt it throughout his whole body. But very quick, he felt the knife draw off, as Rhett succeeded to remove the small piece of glass from the wound. 

“Got it!” He exclaimed, “You’ve done well, Link. I’m now gonna clean it some more.” 

Link sighed with relief. The worst part was over. When Rhett was done cleaning, he wrapped a clean piece of cloth around his foot and tied the ends together firmly. “Thanks, Rhett,” Link said to him when he was done. 

“No problem, Link. Let’s hope it’s gonna heal well and that your fever doesn’t get worse, or you’ll be needing antibiotics, and I don’t think we have that lying around here.” 

Link shook his head. “I don’t think so either.” 

Rhett got up. “I’m gonna make us some food. You should stay in bed.” He patted his friend on his shoulder and walked away. 

Link lay down and stared at the bed above him. There was a constant stinging in his foot, but he didn’t care. Rhett took care of him. Again. He was too good for him. Link turned his head and watched as Rhett prepared another MRE, while softly humming a song. He carefully poured the right amount of water in the bags and put it to rest for some time so it could cook. When it was done, he brought the meal to Link and they ate it together in silence. 

 

“How are you feeling?” Rhett asked after a while. 

“Okay, I guess. Still a bit hot though.” Link answered. 

“You know what, I’m gonna get us some fresh air.” He walked to the ladder and climbed up. When he was about to open the lock, he suddenly heard something. It sounded like footsteps. He froze. Were there people in the barn? What should he do? Take a peak or leave the hatch closed? He decided to take a look. He opened the lock carefully and lifted the hatch just enough to see through. He saw multiple pairs of feet walking around slowly. 

The whole barn was overrun by zombies. He gasped. Where did they come from? Rhett could smell their rotting flesh from far away. There was no way they could take all of these zombies on their own, especially not while Link was injured. Trying not to make any noise, he shut the hatch, locked it and climbed down. “Link. We might have a problem.” He said with a serious look on his face. 

Link sat up straight. “What’s wrong?” 

“There are a lot of zombies upstairs. It looks like we’re stuck down here.” 

“What? Dang it.” Link exclaimed. “I mean, at least we have food and water here, but just being able to leave if we want to would be nice.” 

“I know.” Rhett sat down at the table and lit another candle. 

“What are we gonna do while we’re down here?” Link asked. 

“Well, I think you should just stay in bed and rest, our first priority right now is that you feel better. We’ll deal with the zombies once you’re okay.” 

Link lay back down again and sighed. He hated how he was always holding them up. “Well, what are you gonna do then?” 

Rhett shrugged and looked around the room. “I have no idea.” 

 

They spent the rest of the day just talking and trying to come up with ideas for how to get rid of the zombies, but they couldn’t think of a good solution just yet. At the end of the afternoon, Link fell asleep and Rhett watched over him. Link was moving a lot and he was mumbling in his sleep. Rhett was concerned, it sounded like he was having a nightmare. He remembered having very lifelike scary dreams whenever he had a fever, maybe it was the same with Link. 

After a while Rhett began to feel sleepy as well. He blew out all the candles but one and made sure the flashlight was within reach. He stepped into his bed and just stared to the bed above him while he listened to Link’s breathing and mumbling. When he listened closely, he could also hear the zombies shuffling around above them. 

“Rhett…” he heard suddenly coming from Link. Rhett turned to look at him. It looked like he was still sleeping. Was Link dreaming about him? “Rhett!” Link muttered again, louder this time. Rhett wasn’t sure what to do. Should he wake him up? But then Link jolted upright, breathing heavily, almost bumping his head against the bed above him. 

“Link! Are you okay?” Rhett asked. 

Link rubbed his hand over his face, still panting. “I had a nightmare.” 

“What happened?” 

Link looked at him with panic in his eyes. “You- you were dead.” 

Rhett frowned. “Well, it was just a dream. I’m here. You can go back to sleep,” he said in a comforting voice. 

Link nodded but seemed to hesitate for a moment. Then he asked: “I’m sorry for asking, but would you please lie with me again? Then I know for sure that you’re there.” 

Rhett chuckled. “Sure. Move over.” He stepped in the bed with Link and lay on his back, with his arm around him. Link placed his head on Rhett’s shoulder, just like the first night in the barn. 

“I feel most at ease when you’re lying next to me, Rhett,” Link sighed. 

Rhett felt his heart flutter and he felt all warm inside. “Me too.” He said breathlessly and pressed his lips on Link’s forehead. Link fell asleep soon after that, and he was way calmer than before. He still felt pretty warm, but Rhett thought he was gonna be fine. He smiled to himself. Maybe it wasn’t even that bad that they were stuck down here together. Who knows what might happen?


	7. Chapter 7

It was pitch-dark in the room. The candle that Rhett left on before he went to bed, was completely burnt up. The two men were still fast asleep, still safely wrapped in each others arms. They didn’t hear the many footsteps coming from above them, where a whole lot of zombies were aimlessly walking around, slowly, loudly growling and moaning, desperate to fulfill their need to consume human flesh. They didn’t hear another pair of feet approaching the barn, living ones, hoping to find a hiding spot, away from the zombies. 

 

Rhett and Link jolted upright when they heard a blood-curling scream coming from above them, Rhett hitting his head hard against the upper bed, what made him see stars. 

“What was that?” Link asked, startled. 

“You stay here, I’ll take a look!” said Rhett as he stepped out of the bed and tried to reach for the flashlight. After some time, his hand closed around the object he was looking for and he flicked it on. For a moment he shone it at Link, who squinted his eyes at the sudden brightness. In the meantime, the screaming still hadn’t stopped. “I’ll be right back.” Rhett reassured Link and he walked towards the ladder and went up. After unlocking it, Rhett lifted the hatch slightly so he could look through the opening. 

It was too dark to see anything. The screaming was still audible, but it sounded way weaker now. Rhett brought his flashlight up and shone it through the opening. He gasped when he saw the source of the screaming. About 2 ft. away from the hatch, was a young girl on the floor, her face towards him, her eyes half-closed. She was surrounded by zombies, gnawing and clawing at her flesh. When the light hit her, she opened her eyes slightly and looked at Rhett with a dazed look on her face. 

“Help… me…” She said, her lips trembling. 

It came out softer than a whisper, but Rhett heard it loud and clear. He watched in horror how blood was seeping out of the corner of her mouth, and how it slowly dripped onto the floor. He couldn’t help her, there was no way. Her eyes stayed fixed at Rhett when she took her last, sputtering breath. More zombies gathered around her and started ripping her apart. Rhett averted his tear-filled eyes, closed the hatch and climbed down. 

“What happened?” he heard Link ask. 

“There was a girl…” Rhett started but he couldn’t finish his sentence. He let himself fall to the floor while tears streamed down his face. He covered his eyes with his hands. 

Link was shocked, he hasn’t seen Rhett cry in a long time. He got out of the bed and carefully walked up to him and sat down next to him, placing his hand on his back. The flashlight was on the floor and illuminated them both. Rhett looked defeated. “Tell me, Rhett,” Link said softly, rubbing his back reassuringly. 

“There was this young girl, she asked for help, but it was too late, the zombies already got to her,” Rhett said, his voice hoarse, “I saw her die.” 

Link swallowed audibly. “That’s rough, man.” He said, looking for more things to say to reassure him. “But I don’t think there was something you could do.” 

“I know,” Rhett said softly and he sat up straight and removed his hands from his eyes. Suddenly he felt really angry. His hands turned into fists and he slammed them onto the floor. “I know!” He yelled. “It’s always like that. People die and then we say ‘There’s nothing else that we could have done’, even if that’s not true.” 

Link blinked a few times, he was taken aback by Rhett yelling at him and he removed his hand from his back. “I’m sorry, I-” He started, but Rhett interrupted him. 

“No, I’m not mad at you. I just- It is so frustrating. I want to help. I want to help everyone who needs it, but I just can’t. Something always happens and then they die and then I end up feeling bad, thinking I should’ve tried harder.” He dropped his head before leaning heavy against Link, who shifted to keep his balance and then wrapped his arm tightly around Rhett’s shoulder. 

“I know what you mean, Rhett. But you can’t control everything, some things are just out of your hands. And believe me, it’s no good to dwell on could-have-beens, that’s one thing I’ve learned through all of this.” They sat on the floor in silence for some time, Rhett thinking about what Link said. “Shall we go back to bed?” Link asked eventually. 

Rhett nodded and got up. He reached his hand out to Link, who grabbed it gratefully and picked up the flashlight. They got into the same bed again, in the same position as before, without even discussing it and they closed their eyes. Suddenly Rhett remembered something. 

“How is your fever doing actually?” He asked to the man in his arms. 

Link opened his eyes. “Huh, I think it’s gone,” he answered. 

“Good,” Rhett said, “That’s good.” 

He fell asleep soon after that, but Link kept thinking about their talk. Rhett was usually the one who kept it all together and kept going. Seeing him break down like that concerned him, it wasn’t something that happened often, or at least, he never talked about it. Was Rhett losing hope? Link shook his head slightly and closed his eyes, trying to think about something else and he slowly dozed off. 

 

The next morning, Rhett got up before Link and the first thing he did was climb up the ladder and open the hatch. Sunlight coming from the open doors and holes in the roof, illuminated the whole barn. The smell of hay hit his nose and he took a deep breath. Then, with a lump in his throat, he saw that the girl was gone, the only thing left of her was a bloody stain on the wooden floor. But when he looked around a bit more, he noticed that there was a considerable less amount of zombies than the day before. 

Was this their chance to get rid of them? He opened the hatch a bit more to have a better look. It really looked like at least half of them were gone. But now the question was, were they going to wait for all of them to disappear or were they going to attack now? He was lost in his thoughts for a moment but got snapped out of it when he heard a loud growl coming from his left. He turned his head quickly and his eyes widened when he saw a zombie coming his way. He immediately closed the hatch with a loud bang and locked it. 

The loud bang made Link wake up. “What are you doing?” He sounded annoyed and sleepy. 

Rhett came down the ladder en sat down at the table. “Sorry, didn’t mean to wake you up. I was checking upstairs. We need to discuss something.” 

Link sat up and swung his legs over the side of the bed. “What?” 

“When I checked yesterday, there were a lot of zombies in the barn. But now, there is about half of them left. What do you think? Should we attack now or do we wait for more of them to leave?” 

Link raised his eyebrows, “Wait, how many zombies are we talking about here?” 

“I think there are about fifteen right now.” 

Link thought about it for a moment. It was still a lot of zombies. Then he thought of his foot. It didn’t hurt as much as it did, but he still wasn’t able to walk very fast. But there was also a chance that if they would wait, that the other zombies would return. “I don’t know, Rhett. If we are going to attack them, we have to come up with a pretty good plan.” 

Rhett nodded. “Of course. Let’s see if we can think of something first and then we’ll decide either we’ll do it or not.” Link nodded in agreement and walked over to the table, where he sat down in a chair next to Rhett. 

 

They spent the next hour trying to come up with a strategic plan on how to defeat all of the zombies. Considering that Rhett had his machete and a knife and Link had the gun, they decided that Rhett would go first and that Link would cover him, take down as much zombies down with the gun as possible. If they would manage to defeat them all, all they had to do was close the doors so there wouldn’t be any more of them coming in and they would have the barn to themselves again. Rhett checked upstairs again and saw that everything was still exactly the same. So they decided to go for it. First, they gathered all their stuff in their backpacks, also packing more food and water in case something went wrong and they had to get out of there. Link even stuffed a blanket in his bag. They also changed into a new t-shirt, Link was now wearing a turquoise shirt and Rhett a grey one. Rhett also insisted on cleaning Link’s foot once more and changing the cloth around it. The wound looked less red and irritated than before and seemed to be healing pretty well now. Link was glad, but he still couldn’t walk normally, what made him a bit nervous. Was he able to defend himself and Rhett if he was that slow? He just had to assume he could. 

 

When they were done with their preparations, they waited for a moment at the bottom of the ladder. Rhett had his machete in his hand, his backpack on his back and placed one foot on the bottom step. He looked at Link, who was staring at him, tightly holding on to the gun in his hand. 

“Are you ready?” He asked. Link swallowed nervously but then nodded. Rhett slowly breathed in and out again. “Okay. Remember the plan. We can do this, brother,” he patted his friend on the shoulder and started climbing the ladder. 

Link waited at the bottom as he watched Rhett open the hatch and peek through the opening. His heart was beating fast. “Most of them are on the left, so I’m going to the right first, okay?” Rhett whispered to him. He opened the hatch more and went through it and he disappeared out of sight. 

 

After a moment of hesitation, Link climbed up the ladder, already hearing slashing noises coming from his right. When he reached the top and set foot on the floor of the barn he took a second to take everything in. Rhett was swinging his machete through the air and hit a zombie in the side of his head. A fountain of blood erupted from him as his skull split in half. 

On his left were zombies slowly coming his way and he raised his gun. He aimed it at the one closest to him. He prepared himself and pulled the trigger. After getting hit in the middle of his forehead, the zombie fell to the ground and Link aimed his weapon at the next one. He began to shoot quicker, hitting all of them successfully in the head. Soon, the majority of them were already down.

 

Rhett, on the other hand, was having a bit of trouble. His machete got stuck in the head of one of the zombies and was now using his knife, which made things a lot harder, because now he had to get closer to them to kill them. He was sweating and panting as he jammed his knife into the temple of one of the zombies. 

“Link!” he yelped, “A little help, please!” 

He saw Link turn around and shoot his gun one final time before coming his way. Five zombies were surrounding Rhett. Link saw one charging at him and he quickly aimed his gun and fired it. The zombie made a gurgling sound and fell to the floor, where it lay motionless. Rhett saw an opportunity to try to get his machete out of the zombie’s head. He pulled it hard, but it didn’t work. 

Link shot another one, who was trying to get to Rhett. Suddenly he heard a loud growl from behind him. He turned around and gasped when a zombie was only inches away from him, stretching his arms out at him. Link dodged by stepping to the right, but screamed when he felt pain coursing through his foot. Rhett looked up, his eyes widening and after one last hard pull, the machete came loose from the skull and hit a zombie behind him in the face with the backwards swing. He was amazed by his luck for a second but then ran towards Link, who seemed stunned by the pain in his foot while the zombie was about to get to him. Rhett reached them just in time and let the machete come down on the zombie’s head. Link looked at him. 

“Thanks. There are only two left now.” Link aimed the gun and shot one of them and Rhett stabbed the last one in his temple. For a moment they caught their breath and looked at the mess they’d made. Bodies were lying all over the floor, leaving dark stains of blood on the floor. 

“We did it,” Rhett said breathlessly and walked up to Link to give him a hug. 

“Yes, we did,” Link said, relieved, and hugged his friend tightly. “Now all we have to do is close the…” But before he could finish his sentence, he saw one of the doors of the barn being pushed open and he immediately let go of Rhett. 

Rhett turned around to see what had startled Link and watched in shock as the door opened all the way and showed a huge crowd of zombies coming in. Even further past the crowd, in the farmlands, were even more of them. So that’s where the rest of them went. Rhett and Link looked at each other. Now what? The crowd was coming their way pretty fast, so there wasn’t any more time to open the hatch and go down to their safe hide-out. 

“The attic!” Link grabbed Rhett by his arm and pulled him towards the ladder that lead up to the attic where they slept that first night. Rhett went up first and when he got to the top, he waited for Link. Link was having trouble getting up the ladder again, so Rhett held out his hand to him and pulled him up. 

 

There they sat, next to each other, looking down at the huge crowd of zombies moving beneath them. Link stared at them, at their outstretched arms trying to reach them, their open mouths as they growled angrily and their cold and staring eyes. He felt completely discouraged. 

“Rhett…” he groaned, “What do we do now?” He had a sad and desperate look on his face as he looked Rhett in the eyes. 

Rhett was looking for things to say, his mouth opening and closing as he did, but nothing occurred to him. Maybe this was it. Their end. He grabbed Link's hand and squeezed it slightly. “I don’t know,” He admitted softly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey  
> I think there's gonna be two more chapters after this one, not entirely sure yet.  
> Anyway, thanks for reading and please let me know what you think of the story so far and if you got any tips for me ;)
> 
> AsphodelNox


	8. Chapter 8

“There’s gotta be something we can do.” Link said and he got up and frantically started walking around the attic, checking every corner and looking through the hay on his knees. 

Rhett looked at him, but did nothing. 

“Come on, man! Think with me!” Link said to him, frustrated. 

Rhett looked down again, at the zombies. Their constant growling made his ears ring and it made it impossible for him to think straight. He felt like all hope had left him. 

 

Link rolled his eyes when his friend didn’t reply and he turned around to look out of the small window. There were less zombies on that side of the barn, but when he looked down, he saw that it was way too high to jump down. Also, the window wasn’t big enough to get through. He inspected the window frame and the wooden wall. It didn’t look too secure, maybe they would be able to break it. But then what? 

He looked around once more, with his hands on his sides. When his gaze stopped at the ladder, his eyes narrowed. He walked towards Rhett. “Rhett! We have to get that ladder up here!” 

Rhett looked up at him with a confused look on his face. 

“Then we can climb out of the window!” Said Link impatiently. 

Rhett looked down at the ladder. “But it’s stuck to the floor here and down there,” he pointed at the screws in the wood. 

“We have to try, maybe you can get them out with your knife or something.” Link looked at him, his eyes filled with determination. 

“I’m not going down there!” Rhett exclaimed, looking down at the herd again. 

“No! No, just these ones up here, just try it!” 

Rhett nodded slowly and grabbed his knife. Link watched closely how he tried to unscrew the screws from the wood. Rhett tried his best, but it didn’t work, the knife kept slipping away and he almost cut himself several times. He cursed when he actually did, and put his finger in his mouth. 

Link became impatient again. “Let me try,” he said and grabbed the knife out of Rhett’s hand. Rhett got out of the way and sucked the blood from his finger. After much fumbling, the screw came loose from the wood and Link went on with the next one. 

“Good job, Link!” Rhett praised his friend. Suddenly he felt better. Maybe it wasn’t all over. If Link was still hopeful, why wasn’t he? Some time later, the other screw came out as well. 

Link gave the knife back to Rhett. “Okay, that’s done. Now what?” They glared down again. 

“What if we just pull it real hard?” Rhett suggested. 

The other man nodded thoughtfully. “Let’s do it.” They both sat on their knees, close to the edge and held on to each side of the ladder. 

“Pull!” Rhett said and they both pulled with all their might. The zombies stretched their arms out at them and were growling louder than ever. The ladder didn’t budge and the men stopped for a moment. 

“Again!” Link yelled, sweat dripping from his forehead, not only from the effort, but also because of the tension. They pulled once more, but again, nothing happened. 

“Link, I don’t think…” Rhett started, but Link stopped him. 

“No! This is our only chance!” He exclaimed angrily. “Pull!” He held on tight and pulled harder than ever and Rhett did the same. Suddenly the ladder moved and came loose from the ground, making Rhett and Link fall backwards onto the floor, but still holding onto it. “We did it!” Link smiled and got up, “Now let’s bring it up here.” Together they pulled it up and laid it down on the floor. Link panted. “We have to break the window.” 

“I’ll do it.” Rhett walked towards the window, looked at it for a moment, held on to the wall and then brought his foot up and kicked through the glass with a loud bang. He kicked again at the wooden wall underneath it, so there was a bigger hole for them to go through. He looked down at the zombies and Link stood next to him. There still weren’t that much on this side. 

“That looks manageable, right?” Link said to him. 

Rhett nodded and he looked for a way to go. “Let’s head towards those woods over there, maybe we can find some cover between the trees.” He pointed at some trees in the distance. 

Link looked at him. “We can do this,” he said, with a small smile on his lips. “We can make it.” 

Rhett smiled back at him. “You did it, Link. That was some smart thinking of you.” They looked at each other for a moment, Rhett’s eyes shifting from Link’s bright blue eyes to his lips and back again. He wanted to kiss him so bad. But Link blinked a few times and broke eye-contact. 

 

“Let’s get going.” He said softly, walking towards the ladder and picking it up. 

Rhett let out his breath, which he didn’t know he was holding and helped his friend, carefully lowering the ladder through the hole and placing it onto the ground. “I’ll go first,” Rhett said, “Hold the ladder for me.” Rhett put his foot on the first step and Link sat down and held the ladder tightly with both of his hands. “When I get down, I’ll hold the ladder for you, but wait till I give you a sign, okay?” Link nodded and Rhett climbed down. When he got to the last step and stepped to the ground, two zombies were coming after him. 

Link looked at him with bated breath as he lifted his machete and easily pierced the heads of the zombies. But there was another one approaching from the other side. Link’s eyes widened when Rhett and the zombie disappeared out of sight, around the corner of the barn. He heard Rhett screaming and his heart dropped. “Rhett!” he yelled in panic and he was about to climb down by himself when Rhett reappeared with a bloody hand on his shoulder. 

“I’m okay!” he said with clenched teeth. 

Link sighed with relief. Rhett held onto the ladder from below and Link climbed down quickly. “What happened?” He asked his friend, who looked extremely pale. 

“Just my shoulder, don’t worry about it,” Rhett answered. 

Link wanted to take a look at the wound, but Rhett covered it with his hand. 

“Come on, we have to get out of here! I think it’s best if you use my knife, the gun makes too much noise.” He handed his knife over to him and started walking towards the woods, with big steps. 

Link followed him. He was worried, it looked like something was wrong. “Are you sure you’re okay? What happened to your shoulder?” 

“I said, don’t worry about it, okay?” Rhett snapped back at him. Link was taken aback by his answer, he only asked it because he was worried. “I’ll take care of it when we find a place to stay,” he said. Rhett didn’t react and just kept walking. 

 

They walked through an open field, with high grass, softly waving in the wind. The sun was shining down on them and warmed their backs. Link realized how much he missed the sun, after being stuck in a dark room for a few days. He breathed in the fresh air. He was really glad they got out of there, it could have ended way worse than it did. That happened a lot lately, he thought. They would find themselves in the worst situations, but everything would be okay in the end and they would make it out together. 

Suddenly he realized something. Where they were walking, it almost looked like the field from the dream he had when he fainted. He remembered how Rhett, out of nowhere, was pulled back by the zombies. He also remembered how scared he was when he was all alone. But here, in real life, Rhett was with him and Link was thankful for that. 

 

They reached the edge of the woods, where the trees covered them in shadows. Rhett walked a bit slower, so they ended up walking next to each other. He was still very pale and he was breathing heavily. 

“I hear water,” he muttered. 

Link listened closely and heard indeed water flowing in the distance. They walked in silence for some time. The trees were closer together in this part of the woods and the sun was already setting, so it was getting darker. So far they hadn’t come across any zombies. 

After a while Link’s foot was playing up and his wound stung with every step he took. “Dude, I can’t walk much further,” he groaned. 

Rhett glanced over at him. “We’ll stop at the river, it can’t be far now.” 

 

Only a few minutes later, they reached the river. The water was flowing slowly and made a soft rustling sound. There were some big rocks by the riverside and Link sat down on one of them, pulling his shoe off to give his foot some air. It was a nice and peaceful spot. He could see the sun go down from there and it gave everything a golden glow. 

“This seems like a good spot, shall we make a campfire for the night?” He turned his head to look at Rhett. He furrowed his brow in concern. It looked like Rhett was swaying on his feet and he had his hand pressed against his forehead before looking up at him with a dazed look on his face. “Yeah, I’ll go find some wood,” he said weakly and he turned around and walked away before Link could say anything. He thought about going after him, but he walked towards the river instead and dipped his foot in the cold water. It felt really refreshing. He actually felt like going for a swim and maybe wash all of the dirt off of him. Maybe the next day, he figured. 

 

Heavy footsteps coming from behind him made him turn around. Rhett had returned with his arms full of branches. He groaned when he got on his knees to throw it all on the ground. 

“Good job, Rhett,” Link said. He put his shoe back on and grabbed the matches from his bag. Rhett sat down, leaned back against a rock and breathed heavily, with his hand on his shoulder. Link lit a match and tried to get the fire going. After a while they had a nicely burning campfire. “Okay Rhett, now let me take care of that shoulder of yours.” Link said as he grabbed a piece of cloth from his bag and dipped it in the water. 

“No, you don’t have to, Link,” Rhett replied, groaning. 

“Yes, I have to, you are clearly in pain.” Link walked towards him and kneeled down next to him. 

“No really, I-” 

“Take off your shirt and turn around.” Link insisted. 

Rhett looked at him with an unfamiliar look on his pale face. He seemed to hesitate for a moment but then saw that Link really meant it. Slowly he removed his shirt with his teeth clenched and threw it next to him on the ground. Then he turned his shoulder towards Link. 

Link’s eyes widened in horror as he saw the wound and he felt his whole world collapse. “No…” He muttered. 

“I’m sorry Link,” he heard Rhett say in a broken voice, but it sounded far away. All he could do, was stare in shock at the bloody bite-mark on his friend’s shoulder. 

Rhett has been bitten.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey  
> I'm sorry guys, but this was what I had in mind from the start.  
> Also, I'm not sure when the next chapter is gonna come out, I'm pretty busy with school, got lots of projects going on.  
> Anyway, bedankt voor het lezen (thanks for reading) ;)
> 
> AsphodelNox


	9. Chapter 9

A loud sob left Link's throat as he shook his head in disbelief, feeling tears dwelling up in his eyes and he covered his mouth with his hand. Rhett had turned around and watched him with a pained look on his face. "No! Rhett, tell me it's not true!" Link exclaimed while shaking his head. His voice sounded hoarse and broken. 

Rhett closed his eyes, the flames of the campfire created strange shadows on his face. He looked terrible. “It is true, Link. I’m sorry,” he whispered. 

“What happened?” Link asked, still not willing to believe what was going on. 

Rhett stared at his feet, not able to look Link in the eyes. “I… I just didn’t see him coming. I wanted to turn around, but before I knew it, he took a bite out of my shoulder. There was nothing I could’ve done.” He lifted his eyes from the ground and looked up to Link. It was hard for Rhett to see him so devastated. 

Link shook his head, a horrified expression on his face. “Oh God… I- I should’ve been there, I should’ve helped you! It- It’s all my fault!” Link said in a shaky voice with tears streaming down his face, covering his eyes with his hands. 

“That’s not true! Link, look at me!” Rhett said in a stern voice. Link dropped his hands and looked at him, his face wet from the tears. “Don’t tell yourself that. It is not your fault. Okay?” 

Link closed his eyes, what caused for more tears to roll down his cheeks. They remained silent for a while, both taking in the situation. The sun was now completely down and it was getting dark really fast. The only sounds were the crickets hidden in the grass chirping loudly, the branches of the trees softly swaying in the wind and the crackling flames of the campfire. 

 

Rhett stared at the fire and at the smoke circling into the sky. He felt so stupid. How could he let this happen? He has always been very alert whenever they were around zombies, never letting them sneak up behind him. 

Suddenly he realized how terrible he felt. He was hungry, thirsty, his whole body felt sore and most of all, he felt tired. So, so tired. As if the life was already slowly draining away from him. But the worst feeling was that it felt like he was leaving Link behind all on his own and there was absolutely nothing he could do about it. Who was going to take care of him? Was Link going to make it? He realized he was never going to find out. 

 

Link was having trouble holding it together. He tried to steady his shaking hands and took a few deep breaths. He looked over to Rhett. His best friend for so many years. How was he ever going to live without him? For as far as he could remember, it’s always been the two of them. School, work and now the whole zombie-thing of course. Tears were streaming down his face once more. They’ve done so many great things together and there were so many things they hadn’t even done yet. Why did it have to end like this? Suddenly he felt angry at himself. There was no point to be thinking like that, he wasn’t dead yet. Mourning would have to come later. First he had to make sure Rhett was comfortable during the last moments of his life. Link wiped the tears from his face and sniffed. He should be taking care of him instead of feeling sorry for himself. After a deep breath, he asked: “How are you feeling?” His tone was concerned, his voice still shaky. 

The question snapped Rhett out of his thoughts. He let out a sigh and wiped the sweat form his forehead. He decided not to tell exactly how he felt, but just a part of it. “I think the fever is kicking in.” 

Link cautiously walked towards him and placed his hand on his forehead. “I’ll take care of you,” he whispered softly when he felt the clammy heat underneath his hand. 

Rhett looked up at him with weary eyes and a small but sincere smile. “Thanks,” he breathed. 

Link got up and picked up the wet cloth he dropped earlier and dipped it in the river again to clean it. Rhett followed him with his eyes when he came back. Link kneeled down behind him, so he could treat his shoulder. The wound looked really bad and he started to feel nauseous, but he managed to push it away. 

“I’m going to clean it a bit,” he said, warning Rhett. He carefully let the cloth come down at the torn skin and Rhett let out a groan. Link saw his whole back tense up from the pain. He placed his other hand on Rhett’s other shoulder and squeezed it lightly as to comfort him a little. There was no talking during the process. Neither of them knowing what to say. Link continued cleaning, stopping at moments when Rhett cried out in pain. He felt terrible when he heard him in pain, but he was sure the wound would feel better once it was cleansed. 

Next he took Rhett’s grey shirt and cut it with the knife so he could make a bandage out of it that could reach all the way around Rhett’s chest and around his shoulder. Once Link was done, he gave Rhett the last clean shirt from his bag. It was a red long-sleeved plaid flannel shirt. Rhett put it on and Link watched him as he buttoned it all the way up, leaving a few buttons open at the top. Link thought it looked good on him, but he didn’t say it. 

“I’ll get you some food,” he said instead and walked towards the bags. 

“No, you don’t have to, just save it for yourself,” he heard Rhett say. 

Link shook his head. He knew what Rhett was doing, but he wasn’t going to allow it. “Don’t be stupid, you must be starving as much as I am, if not more.” He looked through the bags and held out a can. “We still haven’t eaten those beans you love. I can actually heat them up for you, now we have a fire.” He turned around with the can and sat down by the fire. 

“Really, Link, you shouldn’t be wasting the food on me. I-” 

“Stop it, Rhett.” Link interrupted him, looking up at him from preparing the food. “You’re gonna eat those beans if you like it or not.” 

Rhett gave up. He knew how stubborn Link could be, so he kept his mouth shut for the rest of the time. 

 

When the food was heated up, Link sat down next to him and they shared the beans. Link could see Rhett was really enjoying it, so he let him have most of it. It made him think about one time they ate a whole bunch of beans during an episode of Good Mythical Morning and Rhett referred to himself as “The Bean-King”. The thought of that made him smile and he watched Rhett chomp away on his meal. But his smile dropped fast as reality came into his mind. That this might be their last meal together. Their last night. An unpleasantly tight feeling settled in the middle of his chest and he started to tear up again. He watched as Rhett put the can down and once again wiped the sweat from his forehead. “

Those were some pretty good beans,” he said with a smile, his voice hoarse. 

“Good,” Link responded quietly. He grabbed his bag and pulled the blanket out and held out his hand for Rhett to grab. “Come sit with me. Maybe we can get some sleep.” 

Rhett grabbed his hand and got up with some help from Link. He needed a moment to find his balance, Link close to him, still holding hands. He looked down and saw Link staring at him, his eyes sad and watery. 

“I don’t want to sleep just yet,” Rhett said softly. 

“That’s okay, we can just sit down and talk for a while.” Link guided him close to the river and they sat down, their backs against a big rock, Link’s shoulder against Rhett’s unharmed one. Link draped the blanket over them both and he let out a heavy sigh. They looked at the river, it looked pitch-black in the dark, except for the place where the light of the full moon hit the water. The sky was full of stars and the moon shone its faint bluish light on the top of the trees. 

 

“You know what?” Rhett started, startling Link, “This place kinda reminds me of Cape Fear River.” 

Link nodded and rested his head on Rhett’s shoulder. “Me too.” All kinds of memories came into his mind when he thought back to the river that streamed near their hometown Buies Creek in North Carolina. 

“Remember that one time, in high school?” 

“The time we almost died? Multiple times?” The two men chuckled. 

“Yeah, that time.” 

“We were so stupid back then. Why didn’t we just turn back when we hit that ice-cold water?” They laughed again, Rhett’s laugh turning into coughing. Link lifted his head to look at him, concerned. “You okay?” 

His friend nodded while wiping his mouth with his hand. “I miss home.” He murmured and now it was his turn to lean his head on Link’s shoulder. 

“Yeah, me too.” Link brought his hand up and patted his head. He noticed Rhett was burning, he was even hotter than before. “Whoa, you’re really hot!” He exclaimed. 

“You’re not too bad yourself,” Rhett said while grinning. 

“Not funny.” Link said wit a serious look on his face. “How are you feeling now?” He saw how Rhett’s smile slowly faded away. 

“I’m tired.” 

“You can go to sleep if you want.” 

“I don’t want to.” Rhett whispered and after some time, he decided to speak his thoughts. “Link, what if I don’t wake up?” They looked at each other. 

Link saw in his eyes how scared and tired he was. The dark circles underneath his eyes were in contrast with his pale skin and it looked like he was bathing in sweat. He didn’t want to say to Rhett that he was thinking the same thing and that it scared the crap out of him as well, but maybe it’s just for the best. Maybe he won’t feel anything if he was asleep. “I’ll watch over you. I’ll make sure you wake up.” 

“But what about you? Aren’t you tired?” 

“No,” He lied, “Come on, you can rest your head on my lap.” Rhett lay down and placed his head on Link’s thigh, his face towards the river. Link covered him with the blanket. “Are you comfortable?” He asked, while stroking his hand through the other man’s hair. Rhett nodded. 

 

Link leaned his head back against the rock, closed his eyes en sighed deeply. He felt like all of this wasn’t real. Like it was one big nightmare and he could wake up any moment, with Rhett next to him, good and well. But it wasn’t. It was all real. He was going to lose him, no matter what. Link opened his eyes again and looked down. Rhett was already asleep, but he was breathing shallowly and his body was twitching every now and then. As Link looked at him, he wondered how he was ever going to live a life without Rhett. When they were young, Link always thought that he and Rhett would stay friends forever. They played together, went to college together, started a business together. They saw each other almost every day and when he thought of the future, he always included Rhett in there as well. He always imagined them as two old men, with grey hair and lines on their faces, sitting on the front porch of his home, playing bridge or some other stupid game and reminiscing all the great thing they’d done, with no regrets. 

Yet here he was, far away from home in some forest, nowhere close to being grey and old, with a dying Rhett in his lap and nothing but regrets. It was so unfair. Tears were dwelling up in his eyes and he looked down to his lap again, at the man he knew so well. His beard, his dirty blond hair, his long eyelashes and his intimidating eyebrows. He was going to miss every part of him. 

 

A few hours past, with Link just staring at the stars and the river, slowly stroking Rhett’s hair, thinking about millions of things. He closed his eyes for a moment and when he opened them again, he saw that dawn was breaking. He felt it was a good moment to wake Rhett up, so they could watch the sunrise together. 

 

He placed his hand on Rhett’s shoulder and shook it. “Rhett, wake up,” he whispered. Rhett’s eyes opened slightly and he blinked a few times. He groaned softly and moved a little bit. “How are you feeling?” Link asked immediately. 

Rhett opened his mouth to say something, his lips chapped and dry, but nothing came out at first. “Water,” he managed to say, his voice hoarse and weak. 

“Hold on, buddy” Link said as he helped Rhett sit up, with his back against the rock, Rhett groaning when Link’s hand touched his wounded shoulder. After apologizing, Link rummaged through the bags and pulled out a bottle of water. He returned to his friend with quick steps and he kneeled down beside him, handing him the bottle. Rhett drank it all in one gulp, gasping for air after throwing the bottle away. 

“Better?” Link asked, but Rhett didn’t answer, he was clearly having trouble breathing. Link furrowed his brow in concern as he took place next to him against the rock. “The sun is about to rise,” he said and looked at the sky. The few clouds were beautifully lit by the upcoming sun, all bright yellow and orange against the shimmering air. He heard Rhett breathing irregularly and he turned his head. His heart dropped when he saw Rhett shaking with tears in his eyes. 

“Link,” Rhett said between breaths, “I don’t feel too good.” 

Link started panicking. Was this it? “Is- Is there something I can do?” he asked quickly, with fear audible in his voice. 

“I don’t think so,” Rhett whispered, closing his eyes. 

“Come here,” Link said as he turned Rhett around to lay him down, so his head was in his lap, his face turned to the sky. He held Rhett’s hand with one hand and he stroked his hair with the other. He saw Rhett stare at the sky, blinking slowly, then look him right in the eyes.

“Beautiful,” he murmured. Link wasn’t sure he was referring to the sky or to him when he said that. 

“Link? There’s one last thing you have to do for me.” He sounded so weak. 

Link squeezed his hand, fighting back the tears. “What is it?” 

“Promise me you’ll do it.” His expression was dead serious. 

Link wondered what he was going to say. “I- Of course.” He promised, not being entirely sure. 

“When it’s time,” Rhett paused for a moment, swallowed audibly and licked his lips, “You have to make sure I don’t turn.” 

Link’s face paled. He couldn’t even think about that. “No, please Rhett, I can’t do that!” He said with a pained expression on his face. 

“You have to.” Rhett told him, “You know what to do.” 

Link knew there was no way around it, Rhett never wanted to turn into a zombie and Link would never want to see him as one. He lowered his head and rested his forehead against Rhett’s. He couldn’t control the tears anymore and they were streaming down his face.

Rhett breathed shallowly and closed his eyes. “I love you, Link, don’t you ever forget that.” He muttered softly. 

Link lifted his head a bit and looked him in the eyes, his hands cupping the sides of his face. “I love you too,” he said in a broken voice. Rhett’s eyes looked hazy and a single tear fell from the corner and rolled over his temple and disappeared between his hair. Link let out a loud sob and then, because of all the emotions, softly pressed his lips against Rhett’s. A kiss goodbye. They both closed their eyes and for a moment it was just them and nothing else. Link broke the kiss and stared at Rhett. He felt stupid that he never did that before and as Rhett slowly opened his eyes, he thought about all that could have been, what made him feel even worse. 

Rhett’s mouth turned into a sad smile. “I always wanted to know what that was like.” It came out nothing more than a whisper. In that one sentence lay an entire universe of how things could have been, but what was never going to happen. Link nodded and wiped the tears from Rhett’s face with his thumbs. 

“I’m so tired.” Rhett whispered. 

Link held his face as he watched how his breathing was getting slower and slower. How his green-blue eyes staring in his own slowly lost focus and how one last tear fell from the corner of his eye. He stroked his hand over Rhett’s cheek. “That’s okay, Rhett, you can let go now.” Link whispered back, even though everything inside of him wished that he didn’t.

Rhett blinked slowly and his mouth turned into a slight smile. He lifted his hand and placed it on top of Link’s, which was still on his face and squeezed it a little. He blinked again, still looking into Link’s blue eyes. 

Link was sobbing loudly as he watched how his eyes shut and didn’t open again. Then it was quiet. He stared at his friend, who now lay motionless on his lap. “Rhett?”, he whispered. No response. “Rhett?”, he repeated, louder this time. Still nothing. The realization hit him. 

He was gone. A huge wave of intense sorrow and loss crashed into him. He pressed Rhett’s lifeless body tightly against his chest as he cried like never before. It felt like he was being torn apart from the inside. 

“No, no, Rhett, come back, please!” He begged. After a while he loosened his grip and laid Rhett down on the ground carefully. There was still one thing left to do and there wasn’t much time. Link stood up, wiping the tears from his face and trying to steady his breath, while his whole body was shaking and he was swaying on his feet. He kneeled down by their bags and searched through it. Eventually his hand closed around the object he was looking for. The gun. 

He rose to his feet and walked towards Rhett. He held out the gun in front of him with his shaking hands. He really didn’t want to do this, but there was no other way. For the last time he looked at Rhett’s face. It startled him when he noticed it didn’t even look like him anymore, he didn’t look like the strong and charming man he once was, not anymore. Link closed his eyes and took a deep shaky breath. “I’m so sorry Rhett,” he whispered and he opened his eyes, aimed the gun at Rhett’s head and pulled the trigger. The gunshot echoed through the woods and a few birds flew away, startled by the loud noise. The gun slipped out of Link’s hand and he let himself fall to his knees, his hands covering his eyes, sobbing loudly. 

He stayed like that for a while. But then, in utter misery, he looked up and reached for the gun once more. Maybe he could end it all. He stared at it for some time, then closed his eyes and aimed it at his temple with his hand shaking violently. A world without Rhett wasn’t a world he wanted to live in. After a deep breath, he prepared himself for what was about to come. Slowly he moved his finger and then he pulled the trigger. 

Nothing happened. Link's eyes flew wide open and he breathed heavily. He studied the gun and pulled the trigger again. Again- nothing. There were no more bullets. “Fuck!”, he cursed loudly and he threw the gun away in anger. His eyes landed on Rhett. A crimson puddle had formed underneath him and had soaked his shirt. The sight of the gaping hole in the middle of his forehead made Link sick to his stomach. He never wanted to see Rhett like that. Link’s vision got blurry and he felt lightheaded. He fainted.

 

 _A week later_  
The river was still flowing slow and steady. The sky was grey, as if it could start raining at any moment. The trees waved their branches in the strong wind. From behind a tree, a growling zombie appeared. He slowly hobbled through the woods, looking for something to sink his teeth into. The sound of a branch breaking made him turn around and he was greeted by a machete slicing through his forehead and he crashed onto the ground. While trying to pry his weapon loose from the zombie’s head, Link shivered. Not just from the cold, but also from the sight of the rotting corpse at his feet, with thick dark blood seeping out of his head. He quickly averted his eyes and walked closer towards the river. He stopped by the waterside, sat down and stared into the water. 

Link looked terrible. He was pale and there were dark circles underneath his eyes and he was skinnier than ever. He hadn’t slept nor eaten in a few days, but he didn’t care. He didn’t care about anything anymore. Anger and grief still coursed through his body, like poison, consuming him from the inside out. After he buried Rhett at the spot next to the river, he just started aimlessly walking around the woods, beating the crap out of every zombie he’d come across. That was his way with coping, even though it didn’t work. He still felt lost and alone and it definitely didn’t bring Rhett back. 

 

When he heard footsteps from behind him, he quickly rose to his feet, holding on tightly to his machete. Two zombies were coming his way. He walked towards them and finished them off. Suddenly he saw a lot more coming his way, more than he could handle on his own. He quickly ran the opposite way, zigzagging between the trees. He shot a quick glance behind him and saw that they were still chasing him. When he turned his head back, his eyes widened. 

“Crap!”, he exclaimed. There were more zombies in front of him, coming his way. He stopped running and looked around for a way to go. He started to panic when he saw that he was surrounded. Slowly the zombies got closer and Link didn’t know what to do. There was no way he was going to get out of this. And honestly, he was sick and tired of constantly having to fight for his life, especially now, when he was all alone. There was no one who was going to miss him anyway. So he just stayed where he was and suddenly he felt anger bubbling inside him. 

“Come at me! Just finish it! You already took everything! I’m done trying!” He yelled at them. 

They came closer and closer and Link spread his arms and closed his eyes. He accepted the fact that it was all going to end there. He was ready. His thoughts went to his family and Rhett. Maybe he was going to see them again. He clenched his hands into fists and prepared himself. 

Suddenly he heard gunshots coming from behind him and it startled him. His eyes flew open and he saw people approaching, shooting their guns at the zombies around him. For a moment he was too stunned to do anything, but then he took his machete and swung it through the air, hitting zombies in the head until all of them were down, thanks to him and the strangers with the guns. 

“You alright?” A young woman asked, her voice concerned and kind. 

Link panted, with his hand on his thighs and nodded. “Yeah. Thanks.” He wiped the sweat from his forehead and looked at the people who came to his rescue. 

There were three of them. There was a young woman with short blond hair and blue eyes, dressed in a grey tank top and black jeans. Next to her stood an elderly man with a grey beard and messy hair, his eyes a dark shade of brown behind a thick pair of slightly damaged glasses. He was wearing green shorts and a red polo shirt. The last one was a man about the same age as Link, he had short brown hair and he was wearing a simple blue t-shirt and dark-blue jeans. His eyes reminded Link of Rhett’s. 

“Are you alone?” The man asked. 

Link stood up straight. “Yes,” he said softly, staring at his feet. 

“You look like you’ve been through a lot,” the woman said. 

“Yes, well, haven’t we all?” Link replied and looked up. 

“You must be starving, why don’t you come with us to our camp?” The old man asked, his tone sincere and a kind smile on his face. 

Link looked at them one at a time and thought about it. He realized how lucky he was that they were there to help him and they seemed like really nice people. Also, he had more chance of surviving with more people around, so he made a decision. 

“That would be great,” he answered and walked towards them. 

“Good,” the old man said and he grabbed Link’s hand and shook it. “My name’s Ben. This here is Amber,” he pointed to the young woman and Link shook her hand as well, “And James.” He added as the other man shook Link’s hand as well. 

“I’m Link.” Link said to them, “Thanks for helping me.” 

“Don’t mention it. We survivors have to stick together,” James said, “Let’s go, our camp isn’t that far away.” They turned around and started walking. Link followed them and felt relieved. At least he wasn’t alone anymore. Maybe things were going to turn out just fine. 

 

Link was welcomed into the new group and within a few weeks, he started to feel happier again. The four of them made a great team and they could handle the zombies with no problem. And as for Rhett, he lived forth inside of Link. Link told the group lots of stories about him and the things they’d done together. He still thought about him every day, but when he did, it was with a smile. Because he’d only think of the awesome times they had together even though it was and never will be enough. But Link was glad that he was his friend for so many years and he knew that one day, he would see him again and they could be together. Forever.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey,
> 
> So, that was it.  
> Sorry about the long chapter and for taking so long to update it. I spend a lot of time on it and kept rewriting parts and I'm still not really happy with how it turned out. Oh well.  
> Please let me know what you think!  
> Thanks for reading!
> 
> AsphodelNox


End file.
